8 minute read
schools
from CA Nov12 2021
by Newsroom
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Northborough student asks for Diwali to be an observed holiday
By Laura Hayes Senior Community Reporter
NORTHBOROUGH - A local eighthgrader is asking the Northborough School Committee to include Diwali as an observed holiday.
“The Town of Northborough observes numerous holidays — Christmas, Thanksgiving, Columbus Day or Indigenous People’s Day, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and many more,” said Ishita Urs during a Nov. 3 Northborough School Committee meeting. “In order for us to be a truly inclusive community, Diwali should be included in the list of holidays that are observed.”
Urs wrote a letter to the School Committee, which she read on Nov. 3. She has resided in Northborough for the past seven years with her family.
“My family and I practice Hinduism, which is more than a religion; it’s a way of life and code of behavior,” Urs said.
She said her family believes that all beings in creation have a sense of faith, duty and morality.
“We are connected to each other through our different cultures, and they should be highly valued,” Urs said.
Diwali, which is also known as the Festival of Lights, is important to the culture and religion of Hinduism, celebrating the return of Rama after his exile and victory over Ravana, Urs said.
“Diwali symbolizes the universal message that good always prevails over evil,” Urs said.
There’s a large Hindu population in Worcester County, she said, adding that other school districts, including the Westborough Public Schools, observe Diwali.
“Considering the two towns are situated exceptionally close to each other, our school district should also consider adopting an inclusive approach for diversity to flourish,” Urs said.
She said such an approach could be accomplished by adding Diwali to the list of no-school days.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Northborough to be one of the few towns that have declared Diwali a holiday,” Urs said. “It is crucial for our community to be inclusive and accepting of others’ beliefs. Awareness of others’ culture can help one appreciate and value diversity.”
School Committee Chair Lauren Bailey-Jones said this letter and presentation came at a great time because the school calendar will be discussed at the next joint school committee meeting.
That meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Dec. 15.
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Northborough to study elementary school configuration
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By Laura Hayes Senior Community Reporter
NORTHBOROUGH - The Northborough Public Schools will be forming a study group that will study the configuration of the town’s elementary schools.
This group could eventually recommend changes in terms of where families in certain parts of town send their children for school.
The Northborough School Committee voiced their support for the effort during their Nov. 3 meeting.
“I love this,” said Committee Member Kelly Guenette. “I’ve been thinking about this for years and trying to figure out something, especially with the enrollment numbers the way they are and redistricting that has to happen.”
Enrollment numbers
Superintendent Gregory Martineau said at a Sept. 1 School Committee meeting that there were 1,541 students enrolled in Northborough schools.
At that time, he said there were several classrooms at the cap under the district’s class size policy, which indicates that the target class range for kindergarten through second grade is between 16 to 20 students. The target range for third through fifth grade is between 16 to 22 students. For sixth through eighth grade, it is between 18 to 24 students.
Over the summer, a first-grade classroom was added at Peaslee Elementary School because all of the classrooms there were at the class size ceiling, Martineau said.
“That allows us more space for new enrollments in terms of first grade,” Martineau said.
What is proposed
Martineau initially raised the idea of a study group.
“We have amazing elementary schools, and they’ve been organized by neighborhood schools for many years,” Martineau said. “Any good organization evaluates and assesses the advantages and disadvantages of current configurations.”
School Committee member Erin Tagliaferri asked if the group would have a blank slate or whether Martineau had an idea of what the configuration should be.
“I think we have some ideas, obviously, but I also want to keep an open mind. I want to look at all different opportunities. My prediction is that we’ll land on two potential scenarios,” Martineau said.
The group would examine those advantages and disadvantages, considering enrollment trends and grade level configuration to see if there are other opportunities to maximize Northborough schools and resources, he said.
The group will hold its first meeting next month.
Staff, families and the community will then be surveyed throughout the first couple of months of 2022, and an analysis will be conducted.
The group will present a formal report to the School Committee next year. Martineau projected that such a meeting would occur in April.
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Westborough School Committee continues discussion on flexible masking
By Stuart Foster Contributing Writer
WESTBOROUGH - The Westborough School Committee discussed the districts proposed flexible masking policy for Westborough High School and Gibbons Middle School at a meeting on Nov. 2.
Currently Westborough schools require masks for students and faculty. But the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides waivers to schools that have met the appropriate vaccination criteria. And the high school and Gibbons have both received waivers.
Superintendent Amber Bock emphasized at the Nov. 2 meeting that all students and faculty would be required to have a mask on their person at all times if new rules go into effect. The Westborough Public Schools would continually look at data in case classrooms or buildings need to temporarily return to mandatory masking.
“Flex masking means flex masking, it doesn’t mean you’re going to shed your mask and never put it on again the rest of the year,” Bock said.
Bock said that the district will be looking at practices that will examine ways to establish safety standards for the different faculty and students in both schools.
All unvaccinated students would be required to mask indoors under this policy.
Bock recommended not voting until Nov. 17 to give the district time to have conversations with various groups and finalize their protocol. If the vote were to pass at that point, the new policy would go into effect shortly before the Thanksgiving break.
All students would go back to masking for the week after the break, though.
School Committee member Sara Dullea said she had been prepared to make a vote on Nov. 2, though she said she respected Bock’s reasoning for her recommendation. She also questioned the necessity of requiring students and faculty to wear masks after returning from the break, however.
“I don’t personally, in my opinion, see much difference between a regular weekend where people are gathering with their families and friends, or an extended weekend over Thanksgiving where people are traveling and gathering with family and friends,” Dullea said. “They’re probably traveling this weekend too.”
School Committee member Lisa Edinberg said that the School Committee should wait until after the Thanksgiving break to make a decision on implementing flexible masking, when more data and information to base the decision on will be available.
School Committee Chair Kristen Vincent, who, like Dullea, also said she would have been prepared to vote on the matter on Nov. 2, said that the district should not further delay a vote.
“We need to try this for a few weeks, collect the data, see where we’re at,” she said. “There’s no good time to try this...I think it just has to happen.”
“I think we should let the process guide us and I can promise you that we don’t want to be spending more time than we need to,” Bock said. “We need enough time to do it well.”
Vice Chair Steven Doret said that the proposed timing of a vote may be “too soon for some and too late for others.”
He also noted that individuals often do travel during holidays, sometimes visiting places with lower vaccination rates than Westborough. He supported temporarily bringing back masking for all after holidays like Thanksgiving even if the district has otherwise transitioned to a flex model at those times.
“I think it’s in the best interest of the community that we do so,” he said. “And after a week or two after that event, if there aren’t any other impacts of it, then we could go back to whatever the vote of the School Committee would be.”
Speaking Nov. 2, Bock discussed steps the committee has taken, such as meeting with and receiving recommendations from the Board of Health, and steps she plans to take, such as drafting a letter to faculty and staff about the range of discussion on flexible masking.
“We are taking steps forward,” Bock said of the ongoing process around this decision. “We will not drag our feet, but we want to answer questions thoughtfully.”
“We are taking steps forward. We will not drag our feet, but we want to answer questions thoughtfully.
Amber Bock Superintendent
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