considerations about reopening schools this fall

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR Sumbul Siddiqui Mayor To: Cambridge City Council From: Sumbul Siddiqui, Mayor Date: June 25, 2020 Subject: Communicating considerations about reopening schools this fall To the Honorable, the City Council: Last Friday, June 19th, the Building and Grounds Subcommittee had its third meeting to discuss CPSD’s facilities planning, as it pertains to COVID-19 recovery and the reopening of schools in September. Chief Operating Officer Jim Maloney shared a working draft of the CPS COVID-19 Policies and Procedures. While this document is still largely “under development”, there are many areas yet to be addressed. On Thursday, June 25th, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released initial guidance on fall reopening of schools and Governor Baker gave a press conference with Commissioner Riley. Districts, including ours, have long awaited this document, with hopes that it would provide clear direction in making major decisions. These guidelines state that districts must provide plans for three different scnearios 1) in-person learning with new safety requirements; 2) a hybrid of in-person and remote learning; and 3) completely remote learning. Districts must also have a focused plan for serving special student populations across each school and submit these plans to DESE in August. In the 28 pages of this guidance document, there is not much clarity provided. According to DESE, the burden of checking temperatures and getting testing falls on the parents, but I hope that we can consider the feasibility of both daily temperature checks as well as testing of students and staff in their next iteration of the CPS COVID-19 Policies and Procedures. It is also important that CPSD completes a full audit of the internal capacity of each classroom, as soon as possible. Beyond the logistics of adhering to health and safety requirements in a narrow sense, we must be concerned about the lack of focus on curriculum and learning as well as providing adequate mental health supports. At what cost, will we work to provide a physical semblance of normalcy? In our planning, it is imperative that we: • Prioritize the quality of learning—how can we center our students to provide engaging and equitable curricula with the right tools? • Ensure relationship building between scholars and adults they can trust. • Create a culture of transparency and communication between our district leaders and families.

• Adequately address the mental health and trauma of our scholars and staff with robust engagement and support. • Provide creative opportunities for athletics, art, music, and electives for our scholars. As a minimum, this is what I am advocating for with the support of my colleagues on the School Committee. Please join me at 5:00pm on Tuesday, June 30th for the School Committee’s next Special Meeting where we will hear a COVID-19 update from the Superintendent. I am also in the process of finalizing a summer meeting schedule with the School Committee, as we will continue to regularly convene via Special Meetings and Subcommittee meetings due to the extenuating circumstances. I will keep you updated. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, suggestions, or concerns. Respectfully, Sumbul Siddiqui