No More Excuses: No Waiver for BPS

Please join us in encouraging Commissioner Riley to reject the waiver from BPS and to demand that the district open five full days a week for K-5 in April.

There are no more excuses:

• The research, and the Massachusetts medical community, overwhelmingly support a return to full in-person learning for those families who choose it. A recent study conducted in Massachusetts schools shows NO difference in transmission rates for 6 feet vs 3 feet of distancing.
• There is no disputing the disturbing fact that remote learning is perpetuating inequities and leaving many of the most vulnerable kids behind. Granting a waiver to BPS, the state’s largest urban school district, would constitute another significant failure of care to Boston’s children.
• The majority of BPS families are now choosing in-person learning: Nearly 30,000 children have opted into hybrid, and more families switched INTO the hybrid model for the youngest learners when offered this option earlier this year. Families who choose to stay remote for the balance of the school year should be provided a high-quality remote option.
• The buildings are ready: The President of the Boston Teacher’s Union has stated that the district has taken every precaution the union requested, and teachers are now prioritized for vaccines.
• A return to full time school in the fall is at high risk if we do not require BPS to tackle the operational challenges of a full return NOW.  If they can’t figure out how to get 30,000 kids back to school in April, how will they get 50,000 back in September? There will always be a “feasibility” concern from BPS.  In order to hope for any full return for Boston’s children in the Fall, we need to dive into the hard work NOW.

Commissioner Riley: We ask that you please reject the BPS waiver and return Boston’s elementary students to school full time in April.