Newton Residents Call For Expert Panel To Help Reopen Schools

NEWTON, MA — A growing number of Newton residents —including city councilors — are asking the city to create a committee of local medical experts to advise the district when it comes to safely and fully bringing students back into classrooms this year.

"We're hoping that the city, whether it's the School Committee or Health and Human Services, will want to listen to the advice of these folks who are experts," said Chris Brezski, a Newton parent and one of the organizers behind a petition filed Jan. 14 to bring the question front and center.

More than 340 people have signed the petition to have a Newton Medical Advisory Committee. The city charter only requires 50 Newton voters to petition the city board for it to need to hold a public hearing on the matter.

"We need actual scientists helping making these decisions. They occasionally allude to outside experts, but they don't name them. If it's happening there's no transparency," said Brezski, who said it's time for an open discussion and public vote on the matter.

The petition comes amid a school year marked by frustration from both parents and teachers as the district works to reopen schools.

6 feet or 3 feet?

During the summer, as the district announced it was planning to institute a standard of desks 6 feet apart, despite advice from the World Health Organization and the Massachusetts Department Of Elementary and Secondary Education and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending 3 feet, parents like Brezski began to wonder if Newton was consulting medical experts when it came to decisions.

They said they couldn't get a straight answer.

A public records request made by Brezski and other parents showed that Newton resident and infectious disease expert Rochelle Walensky —who has since been tapped by President-Elect Joe Biden to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention— had reached out to the mayor in July sharing that she thought maintaining 3 feet between desks in schools for most classrooms would be safe. She and other Newton infectious disease specialists offered to volunteer their time.

Mayor Ruthanne Fuller thanked her for the offer in an email response, but told her that the district was working with its school physician consultant in partnership with the public health and school health experts in the health and human services department. She did not specify who those consultants were.

"Two Newton residents are advising Biden on COVID-19 and Newton has none," said Brezski referring to Walensky and Dr. Atul Gawande who was appointed to Biden's transition team. "To me that says it all, I don't understand that."

Offering to serve for free

The Newton parents and the Newton medical experts worked together. Two weeks ago, more than 140 Newton physicians and scientists wrote mayor, city council and school committee formally asking the city to create a task force and offered their help.

"We each have diverse areas of expertise and bring unique insight into the considerations of safe public education in this pandemic. We would like to help the City interpret emerging data and adapt to the rapidly evolving pandemic landscape," read the letter.

Shortly after that, 16 of the 22 active city councilors sent a letter of their own to the mayor, school committee and health department officials supporting the move.

"Some of the foremost experts in the nation, if not the world — have offered to serve our city in a similar capacity for free," they wrote in a letter dated Jan. 10. "We must avail ourselves of this assistance."

The councilors also called on Newton to pick up the pace for plans to fully reopen.

"We have learned how to mitigate against in-school transmission and we, and school districts across the country, including right here in Massachusetts, have seen successful in-person learning without wide in school virus transmission," the city councilors wrote. "We urge you to work with the advisory committee, NPS staff, parents and others to dramatically increase the opportunities for in-person learning as soon as possible."

Return to school

Elementary and then middle schools opened to hybrid in-person classes this fall. The district is preparing to open the high schools to in-person classes for students for the first time this school year later this month.

"We've just been a little upset with what seems to be a lack of scientific rigor in some of the decision-making, and with how we're clearly behind peer communities in terms of what we're offering for school," said Brezski. "We just want decisions based on science, understanding that there's a risk and a benefit of any path we take here, and we have to weigh all those things. This isn't saying kids have to be 100 percent back in school tomorrow, this is saying let's hear the scientists."

City's response

The mayor said in a statement that Newton Public Schools and Health and Human Services is using "fact-based approaches and protocols from trusted researchers, scientists and medical professionals."

Her office then pointed to a newly formed joint testing working group charged with considering next steps when it comes to the district's coronavirus testing plans.

Newton School Committee chair Ruth Goldman said she expects the committee will make an announcement at the next meeting about a planning group with broad representation, including medical people.

"I think it will get a lot done," Goldman said.

This article originally appeared on the Newton Patch