AMHERST — More than 100 families are petitioning both the Amherst School Committee and the union representing teachers and paraprofessionals to work toward getting some students, especially high needs students, back into school buildings.
Nearly two full weeks into the return of all-remote learning for the public school students at the Amherst and Pelham elementary schools, the petition follows a similar appeal from Amherst and Amherst-Regional School Committee Chairwoman Allison McDonald over the past week.
“We believe that as the scientific understanding of COVID-19 evolves, both the (union) and the school committee need to be poised to move quickly and collaboratively in response to this changing understanding — not just today, but well into 2021,” the letter reads.
Signed by 169 parents and guardians from 105 families, the letter is similar to a previous one calling for in-person instruction, though has more signatories.
Efforts to reach Amherst Pelham Education Association representatives Thursday afternoon were not immediately successful.
The youngest children and special populations, including English language learners, had seven days in person before health metrics set at 28 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents triggered the closing of the buildings. Older elementary school students and secondary students at the middle and high schools have been remote learning since the school year began.
An initial phase-in approach outlined at the beginning of the semester suggested all students could return to school buildings, even if for only one day a week for the oldest students, around Veterans Day.
The appeal from parents was made in advance of a public Joint Labor Management Safety Committee meeting that was supposed to be held Friday, where members of the School Committee, the town’s health director and union representatives were set to discuss the current COVID-19 data for the region. That meeting may have sought a way to bring back students, despite the region exceeding the health metrics.
But on Wednesday, school officials announced that the committee meeting would not take place since there had been no posted agenda for it.
The health data as of Thursday, which is based on mostly cases from Hampshire County, with some data from Franklin and Hamdpen counties, stood at 61.9 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, or more than double the number of cases to prompt all-remote instruction.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
