Gov. Baker Praises Salem's 'Terrific Job' On Keeping Schools Open

SALEM, MA — Gov. Charlie Baker praised Salem Public Schools as a “terrific” example of how to keep students in school in person through waves of coronavirus challenges during a stop at Saltonstall School on Monday.

As he pressed all districts across the state to keep classrooms open during the current omicron surge — reiterating that remote learning days will not count the 180 days of required learning days this school year – Baker credited Salem’s widespread use of testing options and proactive distribution of rapid tests to students and staff before the holiday break for what appeared to be a largely successful reopening on Monday.

"Roughly 2,200 schools participate in one way or another in many of our testing programs," Baker said. "Salem has taken full advantage of all of them.

"Salem is one of those communities that took full advantage of the first two million (rapid at-home) tests that we were able to make available to cities and towns (last month). And distributed them widely, in many cases, to families and to kids and to teachers."

Superintendent Steve Zrike said the district plans to do "everything we can to make sure we keep the student experience stable" amid the omicron surge after the district informed families of some new protocols in place for January that include the recommendation that students and staff wear at least a KN95-quality mask, that in-person meetings will be held outside during for at least this month and that starting on Jan. 15 all those attending an indoor athletic event, band concert or theater performance in a Salem school building will have to show proof of coronavirus vaccination.

"The most important thing that we want to stress to our students and our families is the need for students to be in person," Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said at the news conference, adding that "playing basketball underwater" was how one person described the remote learning experience to her. "I think that really sums it up. (Remote learning) doesn't work well for our students and families. We know, frankly, the negative impact. We're seeing it in our young adults from a year-and-a-half of disruptions and interrupted school.

"We're going to do everything we can to keep our schools safe, to keep an environment in here where kids can learn. We know that's a priority for our students and families."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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