The Marion School Committee on February 8 voted to reopen Sippican School to full-time in-person learning for Kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2 beginning after the winter break on Monday, February 22.
The committee approved an action plan to prepare the school building for educating its early learners last month, and Sippican School Principal Marla Sirois briefed the committee last Monday on the resulting changes that will allow those students to return to school safely.
Sirois said the Kindergarten classrooms only needed a few desks moved to allow students to remain in the same rooms that they currently occupy for hybrid learning. Both first-grade classrooms had to be moved, Sirois said, to two larger rooms — the school library and the band room. Second graders will also attend class in different rooms, one room that was made bigger by removing a partitioned wall and another more extensive classroom beside the Project Grow classroom. All the needed technology for Grade 2 is in place, she added, but some desks still need moving to the cafeteria for space for larger groups to meet and, potentially, for lunchtime.
“Safety remains the top priority,” said Sirois. The school has added some plastic traffic cones to help delineate spaces and added additional floor markers to reinforce social distancing.
“We truly have tried to think of as many things as possible to make sure this goes smoothly,” said Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson. “I’m proud to announce that Sippican School is ready to pivot.”
Nelson said the school has been “transformed,” bus routes have been established, and the food service staff is prepared for the influx of students.
“With the Board of Health, we are in support of bringing back the K-2 students,” Marion Public Health Nurse Lori Desmarais told the committee. Although there have been some COVID-19 cases in the K-2 age group, Desmarais said, “We’ve seen that the transmission is more in the household and not in the school.”
The committee voted to adopt a five-day schedule over the option for a four-day schedule, following the same decision made by Rochester and Mattapoisett already operating their in-person full-time K-2 programs.
Nelson said Marion waited until after the holidays and the anticipated COVID-19 surge before making its decision to reopen. There were no active COVID-19 cases linked to Sippican School as of press time.
“I hope everyone is excited about this — we are,” said School Committee Chairman Michelle Smith. “I know people are nervous; it’s not an easy decision.”
According to Sirois, none of the parents of the current hybrid students have expressed concern about their children returning to full-time in-person learning, but added that none of the parents of fully remote learners had expressed a desire to switch to the full-time, in-person option either.
“I’m feeling very hopeful that this is going to be very successful for our students and our staff,” said Smith.
The lines of communication should remain open, Smith added, emphasizing the importance.
“We are excited; this is a good thing,” said Nelson. “I feel confident that the plan in place has been thoughtful and that we should be able to have a pretty seamless transition …”
One parent asked via Zoom whether the district would consider soon welcoming Grades 3-6 back to full-time in-person learning.
“It’s absolutely not off the table,” Sirois stated. Much like most things this year, Nelson said, echoing Sirois’ statement. “Nothing is off the table,” he said.
Nelson said he anticipates further guidance from the state in the coming weeks to determine when in-person full-time learning is possible for all grades at Sippican School.
In budget news, the committee’s budget subcommittee has acquiesced to the town’s request to pare down the 3.5-percent increase in the school district’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget. Smith said the district could reduce its budget down to a 2.4-percent increase without any significant detriment.
“We think the budget will allow us to still be able to provide what we need to the teachers,” said Smith. “We’re confident with what we’ve come up with at this time.”
School Committee and budget subcommittee member Jody Dickerson said the school district, like all town and school departments all over Massachusetts, are facing the same budget conundrum. He added, though, that no cuts to staff are needed at this time.
“We’re just being very conservative on the town’s budget, and also the school administration is doing the same thing, as well, as fair and best as we can,” he said.
The next meeting of the Marion School Committee will be on February 24 at 6:30 pm.
Marion School Committee
By Jean Perry