AMHERST A commitment to having some instruction in school buildings in Amherst and Pelham beginning in February is the focus of ongoing discussions between elected representatives and the union for teachers and paraprofessionals.A joint statement.
Amherst-Pelham union wants limited return to in-person learning
Amherst Regional High School GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 1/12/2021 12:34:46 PM
AMHERST Intensive needs students and preschoolers in Amherst and Pelham are being prioritized for returning to in-person instruction at school buildings by the Amherst Pelham Education Association.
As the executive board for the union representing teachers, paraprofessionals and other staff continues to meet with the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, potentially to discuss adjustments to a memorandum of agreement that sets COVID-19 health metrics for when students and teachers can be in school buildings, the union on Monday issued a statement that its representative council “voted unanimously to explore a limited return to in-person learning.”
Amherst superintendent: Safer to help high-needs students at school than at home
Amherst School Superintendent Michael Morris speaks Monday, Jan. 30, 2017 during a special Amherst Town Meeting held for a revote of the proposed 67.2 million school project. It failed again.
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST Amherst school officials are being advised by the town’s health director that moving in-person services for high-needs students to school buildings would be safer than delivering those services at home.
Superintendent Michael Morris informed the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee last week that Health Director Emma Dragon suggested that these high-needs students would be at less risk of COVID-19 spread and exposure if brought back to a classroom.
Hundreds call on Amherst school officials for meeting on reopening
Amherst-Pelham Regional High School GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST More than 200 residents, many of them parents and guardians of Amherst public school students, are calling on the Amherst School Committee to hold a special public meeting focused on how to safely reopen buildings for in-school education.
Under a section of the Amherst town charter that provides mechanisms for public participation, 240 people of voting age signed the petition submitted Monday to the committee, as well as the town clerk’s office, asking for an Open Meeting of the Residents.
Amherst school officials share air quality info with families
Amherst Regional High School GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST Families of students who attend the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional public schools are up to date on how well ventilated classrooms are in the six district buildings should in-class learning resume, according to School Superintendent Michael Morris.
In a weekly newsletter sent to parents and guardians Dec. 11, Morris shared detailed information from Nexus Consulting LLC of Torrington, Connecticut, about the status of air quality in each classroom and other educational spaces.
The information was provided after the Amherst Pelham Education Association, the union representing teachers, paraprofessionals and clerical staff, expressed concern last week about renegotiating the terms of a memorandum of agreement for getting students and teachers back into school buildings.