Health

Boston parents speaking out in frustration at lack of in-person learning

BOSTON — Some Boston parents are speaking out before Wednesday night’s school committee meeting as their frustration builds because of no in-person learning. Two organized groups who have been writing letters and speaking at hearings came together on City Hall Plaza.

“We’re very frustrated because there is simply no plan,” said Jody Fink, who has a 5-year-old in the city’s high-needs education program. “A lot of these kids haven’t seen the inside of a classroom since March 12.”

Her son, Thomas, said, “I love doing the morning announcement but not on zoom.”

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh addressed the parents’ rally at his briefing the day before.

“I support you but right now, today, we are not prepared for that,” Walsh said.

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A second organized group of parents also joined the rally with their concerns about not knowing.

“It creates anxiety and it’s not the best way to educate our kids,” said Rodolfo Aguilar, another parent.

The mayor said his goal is to have a more concrete plan to un-pause the phased reopening after Christmas.

Boston Teachers Union President Jessica Tang gave Boston 25 News the following written statement:

“Despite some misrepresentations or misunderstandings of our position, the BTU has long been advocating for the soonest and safest return to in-person learning, particularly for our highest-needs students who are unable to access remote learning. We continue to work hard to assist the district in its planning and we continue to share our solutions, ideas and proposals, as we have been doing since the spring. We hope that everyone will do their part to help our students get back into schools, which includes public mask wearing, making COVID-19 testing more widely available, and ensuring our school buildings are the safest possible places to learn.”

Boston Public Schools also gave the following statement to Boston 25 News:

“The Boston Public Schools (BPS) firmly believes the best learning environment for our students is inside a classroom, learning from their teacher alongside their peers. BPS has convened a task force of BTU members, parents, students, and district staff to help guide our planning on a safe return to in-person learning for additional students who require instructional support as well as services that are best provided in person. Our focus remains on returning our very highest needs students to our school buildings, and we remain hopeful that in the future we will be able to restore in-person learning opportunities for even more students when it is safe to do so.”

Parents, holding signs referencing the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry said they are frustrated rival cities like New York managed to figure it out a lot sooner.

“New York City, the largest school district in the country, that is a pretty complicated animal to attack and yet Boston can’t figure it out,” Fink said.

“If we use the creativity and grit that Boston is known for we can definitely figure out a way to get these kids back to school,” parent Erica Haydock said.

Many of the parents at the rally Wednesday have also been writing to and speaking at school committee meetings.

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