Leominster mayor concerned over hybrid-learning model in public school district

LEOMINSTER, Mass. — “I’m hearing from parents, grandparents,” said Leominster Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella.

In Leominster, Mayor Dean Mazzarella says he is learning a lot about how learning in his city is going. An emergency meeting Monday night crystallized his concern.

“Cleary, with 6,000 people in our public-school system, clearly people were interested in this and are crying out for help, and I feel I need to answer that cry and I need to take action, and help is on the way,” Mazzarella said.

“There are kids and grandkids that aren’t learning, some people have two and three kids, one is doing fine and others are not. They are falling behind and have been out of school since February and March, there was hope [during] summer, then the fall comes and they are not doing well,” said Mayor Mazzarella.

While some students are doing alright, Mazzarella said many others are not.

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The mayor wants to see what COVID-19 data is guiding the Leominster School Committee in their decisions on remote and hybrid education. The Leominster School Committee told Boston 25 News the following on Tuesday:

“The Leominster School Committee is disappointed that the mayor has chosen this route rather than [to] work cooperatively with the rest of the committee,” they said.

The school committee also added that they have voted to bring back smaller groups of students like vocational and special ed. in a micro-hybrid model and have a meeting in about a week.

“On our agenda for our 10/5/2020 school committee meeting we will be discussing bringing back the rest of the school population in a hybrid model,” the committee said.

Leominster is currently in “green” when it comes to its COVID-19 status, meaning an average daily COVID-19 rate of less than four cases per 100,000 residents.

Mayor Mazzarella said he is working to hire tutors and staff as quickly as possible to get the hybrid learning academy at the Boys and Girls Club in Leominster open.

Here is the complete statement from the Leominster School Committee acquired by Boston 25 News on Tuesday:

The Leominster School Committee is disappointed that the mayor has chosen this route rather than work cooperatively with the rest of the committee. The committee had voted 5-4 to start the school year remotely. Much thought and consideration went into our decision. Since that time, the committee has voted unanimously to bring back the following micro-hybrids; Leominster Center for Excellence, CTEi (our vocational component), and some special education programs. In-person kindergarten screening also started this week. Starting on 10/5, English Language Learners and kindergarten will be brought back into the schools. On our agenda for our 10/5/2020 school committee meeting we will be discussing bringing back the rest of the school population in a hybrid model. Families will still have the option to remain fully remote. We have worked diligently to prepare our buildings to ensure a safe integration back into the classroom. We have a strong teacher union and have worked collaboratively with them throughout this process. We understand that these are very stressful times for our students, families and teachers and hope to keep moving forward to provide the best education under these difficult circumstances.
— Leominster School Committee

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