By Emmanuel Vincent 

On Monday of this week a virtual town hall meeting was held concerning the reopening of public schools in the city. Several presenters and advisors participated. There was also a panel for a Q&A segment, where parents were able to voice their concerns and receive clarification.

During this process of easing into the reopening up schools, the City of Somerville has put an emphasis on keeping students’ and teachers’ best interests in mind from a health and safety standpoint. This has been the approach since the early stages of the pandemic.

“We had no pandemic response plan here in the city of Somerville, like every other community in this country,” said Mayor Joe Curtatone. “While the national government has failed miserably in responding to COVID-19 and Massachusetts has been trying to keep up, Somerville has acted with its values in mind and that of our community, their health and wellbeing.”

Once the School year starts, students will observe regular school hours which adhere to the district school calendar. The students will be receiving a combination of live online instruction and connected independent work.

With technology being more valuable than ever during these times, the school system is working diligently to see that every student is supplied with a device, as well as an internet connection so they can learn remotely.

Also, free breakfast and lunch meals will be available every day at all elementary schools from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. window.

Social distancing will continue to be a focus once the schools reopen, with desks and chairs being six feet apart. Each classroom will have a sink or sanitizing station available as well. There is also a plan for deep cleaning and sanitizing.

The schools are doing their part. They would like to encourage parents to help continue with decreasing the chances of spreading the virus, while acknowledging that the task is tedious. “I realize that this can be a challenge sometimes, especially for some of our younger ones,” admits Doug Kress, Director of Health and Human Services for the city. “But just like wearing a bike helmet, that became the norm. We need to think about that again as well as look at this in our community as well.”

December 1 will be the earliest students will be able to enter classrooms for hybrid learning.

Realizing how problematic COVID-19 can be during the flu season, the city, along with Somerville Public Schools, will be hosting free seasonal flu vaccine clinics. They also encourage the use of resources such as their medical provider or local pharmacy.

In addition, there is a plan in place to provide students, staff and close contacts with accessible COVID-19 testing on a regularly basis. If a student tests positive, the Health and Human Services/Public Health Nurse will initiate contact tracing in coordination with the school nurse. If a staff member tests positive, the state protocol for contact tracing will be followed.

The full meeting is available to view on Somerville City TV’s YouTube page.