THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2021 Page 3 2021 | FROM PAGE 2 ETA’s communication secretary, said her “biggest concern” pertained to new variants of COVID-19, adding that another surge was possible. MARCH EPS to bypass hybrid model; in-person learning slated for early April Near ly one year after COVID-19 surfaced, Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani announced that the district would scrap plans for hybrid learning and go directly to in-person instruction on April 5 starting with students in grades K-5. The decision to bypass the hybrid model came after Governor Charlie Baker and state Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley called upon districts to bring elementary students back to school, five days a week, by April. Middle and high school students would return at a later date. “The mandate was surprising but not shocking,” Tahiliani said during the March 1 School Committee meeting. “This is an opportune time; we have SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL DAYS (FINALLY): Welcomed by balloons and a round of applause from teachers, students lined up anxious to start classes in person at the George Keverian School. (Advocate photo by Tara Vocino) started to see a flattening of the curve.” At the time, Everett ’s COVID-19 risk level remained in the yellow category with a positivity rate of 3.4 percent. Tahiliani also acknowledged that some teachers might not feel comfortable returning to school right away. Therefore, the district hired 40 long-term substitute teachers. In terms of what the school day would look like, Tahiliani said, students would begin arriving at 7:40 a.m. and would have an extended entrance period to maintain social distancing. With the exception of physical education, Tahiliani said, specialist teachers would come to the classrooms and that students would also have lunch in their classrooms. Mayor Carlo DeMaria said remote learning had run its course. “Zoom is starting to get very tiresome,” he said. DeMaria also said the state was receiving 140,000 doses 2021 | SEE PAGE 4 Cataldo to be questioned about delayed response times By Christopher Roberson W ard 3 Councillor Anthony DiPierro and Ward 2 Councillor Stephanie Martins are looking for answers after learning that the response times from the Cataldo Ambulance Service have grown to 20 minutes in some cases. “That’s unacceptable,” said DiPierro during the City Council’s final meeting of the year on December 27, adding that Cataldo has violated its contract with the city. “That’s why I was so adamant about the city purchasing its own ambulance.” DiPierro reiterated that an inhouse ambulance would supplement Cataldo, which cannot keep pace with the demand for services. “They’re taking too long to show up; they need to be in this community,” he said, “not coming from Stoneham, not coming from Melrose.” In addition, DiPierro said the city keeps a record of any response times that exceed seven minutes. Four departing councillors In other news, the City Council said goodbye to Ward 5 Councillor Rosa DiFlorio, who is leaving after 16 years, and Ward 1 Councillor Fred Capone, who is leaving after eight years. Ward 6 Councillor Michael McLaughlin and Councillor-at-Large Gerly Adrien were also acknowledged although they were not present during the meeting. McLaughlin served on the council for six years while Adrien served for two years. Ward 3 Councillor Anthony DiPierro said he had the pleasure of serving with DiFlorio for the past six years, adding that he has become like one of her own children. “Councillor DiFlorio likes to say she has five sons – she actually has six,” said DiPierro. “I’m one of them. I get yelled at like one of them but that’s okay.” He also said DiFlorio always stood her ground even when it was unpopular to do so. “She’s never taken any nonsense from CATALDO | SEE PAGE 25
4 Publizr Home