Published September 25, 2020
MELROSE — School is back in session, with most kids starting the year September 16 learning from home because of the on-going pandemic. But when the buildings reopen to the majority of students, faculty and staff — hopefully on October 19 — they will be completely compliant with all safety protocols and regulations.
Supt. of Schools Dr. Julie Kukenberger, schools’ Director of Finance and Administrative Affairs Leia DiLorenzo-Secor and DPW Director Elena Proakis Ellis gave the school board a detailed look Tuesday night at what has transpired in Melrose’s academic facilities since they closed in the middle of March.
A lot of the sinks, for example, now have touchless hot and cold water faucets. There is plenty of hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment in each building. Hallways have floor markings like today’s supermarkets, showing kids in which direction the traffic flows. Ventilation system air filters have been replaced.
Grant money is coming into the city to help pay for initiating a lot of the safety measures required by the state Department of Public Health and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. When the school system’s hybrid plan goes into place, kids will work from home one week and learn in-person the next, with a lot of time spent by custodians scrubbing and wiping down any surface they can find.
With the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year came the need to adequately track the health of each child, a tool to help curb the coronavirus’ spread. Every day, parents are asked to fill out a student health tracker form, which is now a Google Doc. According to School Committeewoman Jen McAndrew, there has been overwhelmingly successful compliance.
McAndrew wanted to know who has access to the information on each form and what it’s used for. Kukenberger answered that only school principals and nurses have access to the forms, which are made available to parents each day at 5 a.m. and must be filled out and submitted one hour before school begins. If a family mentions that one or more members have a symptom associated with COVID-19, a nurse will have a follow up conversation with them. The Athletics Department does something similar, Kukenberger explained, and that information is only seen by trainers.
In response to another McAndrew question, Kukenberger said that a federal meals program allows for any student who needs a meal to get one for free is still available and will be until the end of the calendar year. Only cold meals have been served up to this point, but the Food Services department has ordered a device that will allow for the provision of warm meals soon. The warming device will also allow for more menu variety, Kukenberger said.
McAndrew told those at this week’s meeting that she is hearing “a lot of great feedback” about the back-to-school experience so far. Colleague John Obremski said that while there will be some issues to iron out, a lot of past problems with remote learning have been fixed.
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In other business this week, a move by McAndrew to solve a problem with the October 12 holiday was put off until a more formal review can be made in January.
McAndrew attempted to revise the 2020-21 school year calendar by making October 12 Indigenous People’s Day. Earlier, the October 12 day off was called Indigenous People’s/Columbus Day, which many found offensive because Christopher Columbus is seen as an oppressor of native peoples. McAndrew blamed herself, adding that it is important to get the name of the holiday correct.
School Committeewoman Margaret ER Driscoll argued, in turn, that the community never really had a chance to express its feelings on the matter before the original Indigenous People’s/Columbus Day was approved for 2020 back at the August 11 school board meeting. The holiday name change, Driscoll said, needed context and a process. She asked that the move to rename the holiday be put off until January when the policy will be reviewed. The School Committee agreed in a 4-3 vote.
