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As Massachusetts Kids Return To Schools, Reopening May Be 'More For The Optics'

Many Massachusetts schools will open for full, in-person learning on April 5. Others, including Springfield, will start with a hybrid model, and bring back younger students first.

Superintendent Dan Warwick said ventilation has been improved in Springfield school buildings, and plenty of other precautions will be in place. But classrooms won't be as full as normal.

"Fifty percent of the parents in grades three to eight in Springfield have chosen to keep their kids home," Warwick said. "They are going to spend the rest of the year remotely."

The move to reopen schools comes as the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker has pushed districts to get kids back into classrooms with just a few months of school remaining in the academic year.

"I think this is more for the optics than, I think, anything else," said panelist Mike Dobbs. "I think that they want to show that things are getting better. And part of that 'getting better' is reopening schools, even at this point."

Dobbs noted Massachusetts COVID-19 infection rates have been inching upward, with some municipalities going back into the "red" zone. That includes Springfield.

"It'll be interesting to watch how that affects this [latest] decision about the schools," he said.

Kids that do go back to school will face COVID-19 protocols and precautions. Many of them may have been sitting at home in front of computers for the last year. How will kids take it?

"I think it's going to depend a lot on the age of the kids," said panelist Matt Szafranski. "The younger kids, I think, are flexible. I think it'll be helpful that they have some of that in-person interaction at least a few days a week."

Szafranski noted the planning for a return to in-person learning should have been handled last summer.

"You look at Connecticut, which had much more clear standards, and was able to open a lot more schools a lot earlier, including in urban centers," he said. "Compared to Massachusetts, which all of a sudden decided to just fire the gun, you know, a few weeks ago, and say, 'OK, it's time to go back to class.'"

As we like to do from time to time, we take a look at our panelists have been writing about. Szafranski wrote a piece examining Springfield's response to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year. He spoke with elected and city officials, and looked at how they've handled the situation, among other things.

Mike Dobbs of The Reminder holds up his COVID-19 vaccination card during a Zoom call.
Credit Sam Hudzik via Zoom screenshot / New England Public Media
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New England Public Media
Mike Dobbs of The Reminder holds up his COVID-19 vaccination card during a Zoom call.

And our panelist Dobbs wrote about how frustrating it was to try to get a COVID-19 vaccine, saying the current reservation system isn't effective. He wrote that he felt like he needed to "know a guy" in order to get a shot. But as he tells NEPM, he found the help he needed from a group of volunteers to schedule an appointment, and got a shot in the arm this week.

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Adam joined NEPM as a freelance reporter and fill-in operations assistant during the summer of 2011. For more than 15 years, Adam has had a number stops throughout his broadcast career, including as a news reporter and anchor, sports host and play-by-play announcer as well as a producer and technician.
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