Updated at 4:45 p.m. on March 1
Some Massachusetts parents disagree with Governor Charlie Baker's plan to get students back in classrooms by the end of the school year.
While some districts have already begun teaching in buildings, others like the Springfield Public Schools have been fully remote since the pandemic began.
Parent Rose Webster-Smith has a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old who attend Duggan Academy.
Like many households, Webster-Smith’s includes an older family member — someone with COPD, she said, and pandemic or not, kids will be kids.
“They're going to swap masks, just like they do sneakers and bring that back home to my house,” she said.
While almost everybody wants their children back in the physical school, Webster-Smith said, it's not safe.
“The air filtration systems [in older buildings like Duggan] have to be updated,” Webster-Smith said in an interview Wednesday. “Having a door and a window open is not sufficient, and that's the plan at Duggan.”
City officials pushed back on that characterization Monday.
At a press conference, Springfield's executive director of parks, buildings, and recreation management, Pat Sullivan, said the city has spent over a million dollars to make upgrades across the district.
“I want every parent to know we have the proper air systems now in place in our school buildings,” Sullivan said. “And I would ask the press to please report the full story on these, because it's a very scary time for everyone still.”
Mayor Domenic Sarno criticized the original NEPM article that quoted Webster-Smith, calling it “misinformation.”
Contacted later Monday, Webster-Smith said she has not received information from the school or district about COVID-mitigating measures in the classrooms. She said the only information she has received came from what her daughter heard from a teacher.
Asked Monday about the specific improvements to the air filtration system at Duggan, a Springfield schools spokeswoman sent a link to a Focus Springfield video explaining the upgrades, which vary depending on the school’s existing HVAC system. According to the video, Duggan is receiving MERV 13 filters, and engineers have increased the amount of fresh air circulated into the building.
Meanwhile, if students are expected back in the building, Webster-Smith said Massachusetts teachers should get priority vaccinations.
Educators teaching kindergarten through high school are not yet eligible to be vaccinated in Massachusetts. They are included in the next group, along with retail and restaurant employees.
Connecticut teachers can sign up to get their shots starting March 1.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story contained an assertion from a Springfield parent about a school's COVID mitigation plan that city officials said is not true. The story was updated to include a response from the officials.
