Medway & Millis August 2020

August 2020 Medway & Millis Local Town Pages www.localtownpages.com Page 7
Millis Schools, Tri-County Look to Develop School Plans
By J.D. O’Gara
Summer 2020 was hardly a
vacation for local school officials,
with Millis Public Schools and
Tri-County Vocational Regional
Technical High School among
public schools across the state
working hard to develop plans
to submit to the Massachusetts
Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education.
Initial guidance from DESE
was released on June 25, 2020,
with Comprehensive Special Education
Guidance released July
9, 2020 and UPDATED Guidance
and FAQ from DESE released
July 10, 2020. Preliminary
plans from each school were due
to DESE by July 31st, (prior to
Local Town Pages’ deadline), with a
Comprehensive Plan due in early
to mid-August.
“We are working on developing
the three plans that we have
to submit to DESE by the end
of the month: Full return, Hybrid
with about 50% in school
at a time, and 100% Remote,”
said Nancy Gustafson, Superintendent
of Millis Public Schools,
in mid-July. “We will present our
DRAFT Plans to School Committee
on the 21st. So much is up
in the air, still.”
Tri-County Superintendent
Stephen Dockray, was tasked
with this plan for his vocational
high school, which encompasses
11 local towns and has an enrollment
of close to 1,000 students.
“We have to look at trying to
get as many kids into the school
building as possible. It’s going to
be challenging,” said Dockray, in
mid-July. “We’re still very much
in the preliminary stages of planning.
Busing is a big issue, how
many kids can we fit on a bus,
how many kids are going to be
able to be socially distant on a
bus.”
On the vocational side, Dockray
noted, “It really doesn’t lend
itself to remote learning. We want
to get kids back into the shops
in person, but then you have
the safety and the health issues.
I think the state is still unsure.
Those are some of the questions,
but then you compound that
with where are the kids going to
eat lunch, and sports is another
whole big issue we’re still unsure
of. We’re waiting for some guidance
on that.”
Dockray says some teachers,
as well, who might have underlying
conditions and will feel unsafe
in the school environment.
“We may not do what our
member communities do. We’re
a vocational school, and I think
it’s important to get those students
to earn the hours and the
knowledge they need to gain.
We’re still not sure how we’re
going to do it. Most parents want
to see in-person, but they only
want to see in-person if you can
guarantee the health of their student.
It’s going to be difficult to
get all the students in here.
Dockray says students will
definitely have to wear masks,
but the school was looking at
working breaks from the masks
into the school day. Everything,
he says, was dependent on the
coronavirus remaining in check
in the state.
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