Framingham Schools Offers E-Learning Survey Regarding April Break

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham Public School system is giving area students, parents and staff members the opportunity to weigh in on whether remote learning learning should continue during an upcoming school break. The results of the polling could shorten the scheduled school year by a week, although that decision would ultimately be up to the Board of Education. On Wednesday, local school officials issued a survey to residents on its website, a day after Superintendent Robert Trembley met with union members from the Framingham Teachers Association to discuss options moving forward

Area students are scheduled to be on vacation between April 20-24 but last week, Massachusetts Commissioner of Education James Riley offered some guidance to schools across the state as it relates to the upcoming scheduled break. In his correspondence with school officials last week, Riley said that if a school district continues to offer remote learning programs to students over the break (which includes Patriots Day), that district would not be required to go beyond its scheduled 181st day of classes.

Governor Charlie Baker has said that the earliest students could return to school would be May 4 – nearly two months after Framingham students were in classes on March 11. School officials issued the survey to parents on Wednesday and set a noon deadline on Thursday to help school officials to consider their next move. The local district earlier this week issued a directive that students should be spending a minimum of three hours learning remotely per day Monday-Friday each week.

“The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has noted that the decision to hold or cancel April Vacation is a local one. We are seeking your input on whether or not to keep the scheduled April Vacation,” Tremblay wrote to school families.

“Before any decision is made, we will consider the feedback from Framingham Public Schools students, families, and staff and engage in conversations with union leadership.”

Tremblay wrote that if remote learning continued over the scheduled break, it would change the final day of classes to June 18 from June 24 – a move that would need to be approved by school officials and would also be dictated by any directives sent from state education officials.