Most Salem Students To Remain In Hybrid Model In Classroom Return

SALEM, MA — Salem Public Schools remain on track to open their doors to pre-kindergarten through second grade, sixth grade and ninth grade students on Monday for the first time since many of those students were sent home in March at the onset of the coronavirus health crisis.

Yet, while Salem Superintendent of Schools Stephen Zrike said he will present a proposal to bring back additional grades during Monday's School Committee meeting, those grades will have to remain in a hybrid learning model for the foreseeable future due to social distancing considerations.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued new guidelines last week advising any district that can to open to full-day, in-classroom learning as soon as possible. The state even revised its metrics for when a city or town is considered at "high risk" for community spread of the virus with the stated intent of avoiding automatic triggers for remote learning.

But Zrike said during a town hall meeting with the school community on Monday that it is not feasible for most Salem students to return to full-day learning as long as social distancing criteria is in place.

"We don't believe that given the community's commitment to 6 feet distancing it is feasible," Zrike said of full-day learning. "Our model, beyond (pre-kindergarten) to grade 2, will have to be a hybrid model. As we begin talking about bringing more students back that is something that we're actively discussing and considering. Because it is not feasible for us to maintain the 6 foot distance and have every student return in person.

"We would have to go below that (6 feet). And there hasn't been an appetite — deservedly so — from medical experts in our communities, from our families and our staff for doing that."

Salem's coronavirus rate soared from 7.1 cases per cases per 100,000 people two weeks ago to 14.1 cases in last week's state report. Up until Friday, that would have designated the city as a "high risk" community.

But the new state metrics also take into consideration "positive test rate" where a city of Salem's size — 49,000 residents — would need to also be above 4.0 percent to be considered "high risk." Salem was 2.08 as of last week's state report.

"People need to be aware that there's a level of flexibility that will be needed," Zrike said of the return plans.

The town hall meeting outlined many of the safety precautions in the schools and the factors that will be used to determine whether a student, class or school needs to quarantine or go fully remote. In most cases, contact tracing and social distancing protocols will allow for schools to send only one class — and in many cases beyond the youngest grades only a portion of that class — into quarantine in the event of a positive case.

"Ultimately, the Board of Health lies on the side of extreme caution on these decisions," Zrike said. "We never make these decisions on our own."

The full school town hall meeting can be found here.

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