'Only When It's Safe:' Melrose Teachers Call For Remote Start

MELROSE, MA — Being asked to return to the classroom amid a raging pandemic that has no end in sight, a union representing some 450 local educators said they want the district to start the school year fully remote and ease into a hybrid model only when it's safe to.

The Melrose Education Association said in a letter Thursday that Melrose Public Schools had good intentions with the hybrid model now on the table, but cited several health concerns in a possible return to class.

"Coming up with the best plan to return to learning is a difficult, emotional, and philosophical challenge for us," MEA President Lisa Donovan said in a letter. "Unfortunately, as much as we would like to be back in our classrooms with our students, those same classrooms are currently unsafe environments for them and for us."

The first draft of the district's return plan offered the option for students to have exclusively remote learning, but there is also a hybrid option that would see students alternate weeks learning in class and at home.

What the MEA wants is all students to begin the year fully remote — the union calls it "distance learning" — until educators think it's safe to return to class. Donovan calls it a phased approach, similar to how the state slowly brought the economy back online as health metrics allowed.

"Concerns around air quality, ventilation, regular cleaning, protocols for mask breaks and bathroom usage, and the extreme heat in the buildings are just some of the safety concerns that we have," Donovan said, adding there is too much unclear about what will happen when COVID-19 cases are suspected and confirmed.

Even the hybrid model is lacking, Donovan said, warning against a repeat of what she called "crisis learning" last spring.

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But with just weeks before the start of school, Donovan said efforts will be better served beefing up the remote learning model — or what the union calls "distance learning" — and working their way back into class at a more appropriate juncture.

"Using a phased approach, we would welcome an opportunity to collaborate at a future time on the hybrid model," Donovan said. "For now, however, instead of wasting time trying to fix the hybrid model that needs much work before it successfully can be implemented, we would like to focus our efforts on developing a superior model for distance learning that is engaging, inclusive, and supportive."

In an interview with Patch Wednesday night, Donovan said educators are just as eager as families and students to reopen schools. But thanks to social distancing guidelines and health precautions, just getting kids back into the classroom won't result in the kind of in-person learning experience people are used to.

"If we get back to the buildings, the classroom experience is going to be a different kind of experience for students," Donovan said over the phone. "I understand the eagerness of families for students to get back, educators want them back too, but we do have concerns about that different classroom experience."

A district staff survey late last month found that a third of the 385 who responded don't feel comfortable returning to class, regardless of social distancing measures.

The MEA isn't just looking at the metrics, but also the safety of spending several hours a day in buildings that haven't been up to the union's standards since even before the pandemic.

Donovan said the MEA was not offered the opportunity to weigh in on the first draft of the return plan. It also wasn't asked to collaborate on the second draft, which is due to be sent to families Friday.

Donovan hopes educators will have a seat at the table moving forward.

"We would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the district, with the School Committee, with the families and with our colleagues to make sure that when students return to this hybrid model, it's something that's feasible and realistic and manageable," she told Patch.

The current hybrid proposal has teachers doing more than two full-time jobs, Donovan said.

"That's not sustainable," she told Patch. "It's not good for students."

The MEA has started tweeting with the hashtag "#OnlyWhenItsSafe." That phrase and sentiment was widely shared during stand-outs near City Hall and the high school Thursday afternoon.

"All the teachers gathered here tonight in front of City Hall because as much as we want to be in the classroom with our students in person, and believe me we do, but not until the buildings and the health metrics are safe to make that possible and right now they're not," MEA Treasurer Laurel Neubauer said.

Dozens of teachers were joined by parents and students, showered with supportive car horns at the busy intersection.

"I have a soon-to-be fourth grader and soon-to-be kindergartener, and we care about their education tremendously, but without our teachers we're nothing — and safety's No. 1," parent Alexa Majors said in support. "I understand this is so difficult for working families but we have to take care of our teachers and our kids. That's our first priority."