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3/31/2021
Members also talk full return to school, other matters
CUMBERLAND – The final 2021-2022 school district calendar approved by the School Committee last week keeps religious holidays as days off.
Chairwoman Karen Freedman, whose family celebrates Jewish holidays, said she believes the district should start considering making celebration of religious holidays a personal choice and not including them on the secular school calendar, as many other districts have done across the country.
Freedman and Amy Rogalski were the two no votes on approving the calendar, as it passed 5-2.
Also part of the finalized calendar presented by Supt. Bob Mitchell is moving two professional days originally scheduled near the Aug. 30 start of school to later in September and October, making for a more consistent first few days of the next school year.
CUMBERLAND – Since going to an online streaming platform last year, the Cumberland School Committee has seen engagement with its meetings skyrocket, going from three or four in attendance before the pandemic to sometimes hundreds of participants. During one meeting last August, some 600 people were on the call for a meeting.
Chairwoman Karen Freedman said it’s clear that a virtual component should remain as “what’s best for the public,” with increased accessibility bringing “way more engagement than ever,” even as the committee now considers ways it might get back together in an in-person setting.
There are a lot of logistics to figure out for a return to in-person meetings, said Freedman, but school leaders are here to serve the public and do what’s best for them.
CUMBERLAND – While teachers say they’ll be happy to see more students in person again, many remain fearful about Cumberland’s plan to return to in-person learning from the current hybrid model.
On Feb. 5, in an announcement that created some waves locally after it took School Committee members, teachers and families by surprise, Supt. Bob Mitchell announced a planned return to a four-day school week starting Feb. 22.
That plan was subsequently revised to the following schedule:
• Grades k-2 will return March 2.
• Grades 3-5 will return March 9
• Grades 6-8 will return March 16
• Grade 12 will return March 9
• Grade 9 will return March 16
• And grades 10-11 will remain hybrid until all of the above has occurred and high school administration can further study and implement safe traffic and spacing within the high school.
12/30/2020
Cumberland shows character, care as COVID-19 rages
Organizers Joyce Hindle Koutsogiane, left, and Mike Tusoni attached an American flag to a car when they were preparing for the start of Cumberland’s 94th annual Arnold Mills Fourth of July Parade and Road Race on Saturday, July 4, along Nate Whipple Highway. The traditional parade was replaced with a motorcade along the major roadways in town and a virtual road race. (Breeze File photo by Robert Emerson)
Pandemic impacted every area of life
CUMBERLAND – An unprecedented modern health crisis upended every aspect of life in 2020, from the way Cumberland residents worked and played to the way they learned and gathered socially or for entertainment.