Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020 Will Saugus students be ready? School Committee ponders December “orientation” to prepare students for Jan. 4 return to classes By Mark E. Vogler I f it were up to School Committee Chair Tom Whittredge, Saugus Public School students would be returning to class next month so they will be better prepared to handle the Jan. 4 switch to the hybrid learning model that allows some in-person classes instead of total reGerry D’Ambrosio Attorney-at-Law Is Your Estate in Order? Do you have an update Will, Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney? If Not, Please Call for a Free Consultation. 14 Proctor Avenue, Revere (781) 284-5657 mote learning. But with three School Committee members remaining apprehensive about the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Saugus, the School Department may spend the rest of the year with students engaged in remote learning from their homes. “I just think it’s time we try to get these kinks out by Jan. 4,” Whittredge told his colleagues during a recent meeting (Nov. 12) held via “Zoom” videoconferencing. “With orientation, it’s four days [back in school] per kid,” he said. Whittredge stressed it would be “a lot of anxiety for a kid going into Christmas (not knowing what to expect when he or she returns to the classroom in early January). “It’s time we tried. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on getting these schools ready…Dec. 4 we can hit the ground running,” he said. But School Committee Member Arthur Grabowski doesn’t feel comfortable rushing into an orientation without knowing more about definitive school plans and the sudden COVID-19 surge accompanied by a change in the metrics of measuring the level of the COVID-19 threat in the community. “I’m just concerned the state, the governor [Charlie Baker] and DESE [the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] have changed the rules in midstream,” Grabowski said. “I think they changed the metrics to agree with what their ideas are,” he said. School Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi, Jr. said the change in the metrics seems to reflect the attitude of the Governor and state education officials on a desire for more in person learning in the classroom. “The message is pretty clear to all of us sitting in the superintendent’s seat: to bring kids back,” DeRuosi said. School Committee Member Joseph “Dennis” Gould said there might be “a way to ease back” into classroom learning. But Gould said two things must happen before he supports such a move. “One, COVID stabilizes in Saugus. Two, we have a plan that can be articulated to the parents who are very concerned about sending the kids back,” Gould said. There is a plan in place, according to Whittredge, who said he and School Committee Member John Hatch have been involved in discussions with school staff and the faculty representatives. “Where is the plan?” Grabowski asked. “Give us the meat on the bone. Don’t just say ‘Here’s the steak and we don’t know what’s inside of it,” he said. “We need to be told the nuts and bolts that we’re not being told.” Grabowski suggested the committee meet in an executive session so all members know what the logistics are for students’ return to the classrooms. School Committee Chair Ryan Fisher and Members Grabowski and Gould voted to delay moving to the hybrid learning model last month, citing concerns about protecting students from exposure to the Coronavirus. Whittredge and Hatch voted against the motion, preferring to see students return to the classroom. Special Education students have been learning in a classroom environment at the Saugus Middle-High School for several weeks. WHEELABRATOR | FROM PAGE 1 mental impact with transportation of the ash to Shrewsbury and locations farther away. Such a plan would require a full Massachusetts Environmental Impact Report, a site assignment modification to allow such an extension and approval by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Many town officials, resiHappy Thanksgiving from the Everett Bank family to yours. WE WISH YOU A SAFE AND JOYFUL HOLIDAY. WE’LL BE CLOSED ON NOVEMBER 26TH, BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS ACCESS OUR ONLINE BANKING. 419 BROADWAY, EVERETT MA 02149 Right by you. 61 7-38 7 - 1 1 10 7 7 1 SALEM ST, LYNNFIELD, MA 01940 7 8 1 - 7 7 6 - 4444 WWW.EVERETTBANK .COM Member FDIC Member DIF dents and representatives of local environmental groups have opposed expansion of the ash landfill and have called on the company to end its operation of the landfill. But Connolly said the company plans to push for discussion of that issue and its future relationship with the town at future meetings of the new Wheelabrator Subcommittee. Much of last week’s meeting focused on the framework of the panel. The group voted unanimously to appoint Board of Health Chair William Heffernan and Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano as the cochairs, an arrangement that would allow the committee to continue its work in the event that one of the chairs is unable to attend the meeting. The subcommittee also agreed to hold its monthly meetings the third Wednesday of every month. Meetings could range from as brief as 25 minutes all the way up to three hours, according to Heffernan. “It’s really going to lead to a lot of good will between Wheelabrator and the town, moving past a lot of ongoing issues,” Heffernan said, expressing optimism about the subcommittee meetings forging better relations. “It will allow us to address issues upfront before they happen,” he said. At the conclusion of the meeting, Cogliano said he is also encouraged about the positive potential for better relations between Wheelabrator and the town. While noting that the town has pending litigation with Wheelabrator, Cogliano said he’d “love to see that portion of the equation be eliminated.” “I don’t see a whole lot of wins coming our way,” he said. WHEELABRATOR | SEE PAGE 13
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