WESTHAMPTON — Hampshire Regional High School will continue to move toward reopening under a combined remote and hybrid model after a motion for a pure hybrid model was voted down by the School Committee on Monday.
The vote marked the second time that a hybrid model for Hampshire Regional’s reopening was defeated.
At the School Committee’s previous meeting, following a hybrid model being voted down, the committee unanimously voted to move forward with a model where the seventh graders would start the school year under a hybrid model, while grades 8-12 would be educated remotely.
Under this model, high needs students and those without internet access at home would also be able to do their work in person. Parents can also opt to have their students educated remotely, regardless of grade.
Hampshire Regional School Committee Member Thomas Cleary said on Monday that, following input from the community, he felt that the school had erred in not adopting one of the three options parents and staff had seen beforehand: remote, hybrid, and in-person.
“I felt that we broke the trust of the community,” Cleary said. “Without notice, we came up with a different plan.”
Cleary said that in the parent surveys that had been given out more than two thirds of the responses had opted for either the in-person or hybrid model. He also brought forward a hybrid plan for the committee to consider.
Cleary’s characterization of the process was disputed by School Committee Member Margaret Larson.
“None of them were pure or absolute models,” she said, pointing out that high-needs students would still be educated on campus even under a fully remote model.
Peter Cleary, who made the motion for a combined model at the previous meeting, echoed Larson’s point.
“Each plan has an aspect of another in it,” he said.
In the end, Thomas Cleary’s motion was defeated 11-2, with only School Committee Member Scott Johndrow supporting it with Cleary.
The School Committee also voted to approve the plan for the hybrid model for the seventh graders laid out by Hampshire Regional High School Principal Kristen Smidy, with only Thomas Cleary voting against it. The School Committee is set to vote on a detailed plan for reopening on Aug. 24.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.