State Allows 4 Days Of Remote Learning At Jamaica Plain School Closed After COVID Outbreak
BOSTON (CBS) – Students at the Curley School in Jamaica Plain may have to return to the classroom sooner than expected after it closed temporarily due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
This comes after the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education approved only a portion of the remote learning days requested by the Curley.
Principal Katie Grassa wrote in an email to families that they're "reviewing our options and next steps on his request to return students earlier than the 10 days the Boston Public Health Commission advised."
DESE Commissioner Jeff Riley said the department was in the process of working with the school to mitigate the outbreak when the school department decided to shut down.
In a letter to the mayor, superintendent and Boston School Committee, Riley wrote "It appears in the case of the Curley, a decision to close took place without appropriate consultation with DESE."
"We are left to wonder if the whole school closure at the Curley could have been avoided if progressive interventions recommended by DESE were implemented last week, such as quarantining individual classrooms or grade levels," Riley wrote.
One Curley School parent and emergency room doctor agrees with the state.
"The thing that doesn't sit well with me is that it feels like a punishment to the school from the state saying maybe you shouldn't have closed," said Alice Bukhman. "They were doing the best they could with the resources they had."
Word of the Curley School outbreak was the push Tanisha Tate needed to get her 10-year old son, Jordan, vaccinated at the Codman Square Health Center.
"If you're a parent, you don't want in-home learning so once I got the text I called in to get his appointment," said Tate.
After getting his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, Jordan Tate said it was worth the quick pinch if it means protecting his family against COVID-19.
"He goes to the Henderson School and they do use the masks. My son is pretty good with the masks, but you never know," said his mother. "It's good to be on the safe side."