Sudden Marblehead Remote Learning Shift A 'Teachable Moment'
MARBLEHEAD, MA – Marblehead Superintendent of Schools John Buckey said he was confident the district's three weeks of remote learning in September would have the schools prepared to switch back from hybrid learning to remote, if necessary, at some point during the school year.
He just did not want it to have to be under this type of circumstance.
Buckey told Patch on Monday a consensus of school, town, public safety and health officials determined that Marblehead High School should go fully remote learning effective Monday after students attended what police said was a large house party Friday night.
Police said the teens scattered when they arrived, making coronavirus contact tracing nearly impossible. The uncertainty surrounding which students may have been at the party where police said there was no social distancing, mask wearing and where teens shared drinks caused the district to close the classrooms on Sunday.
"While acknowledging people are disappointed," Buckey told Patch Monday afternoon, "we started the school year with three weeks of remote learning knowing we might have to pivot back to that. I wish this event hadn't been an impetus for the pivot. But with less than 24 hours notice, everyone did an exemplary job."
While Buckey voiced considerable frustration with the situation in a letter to the school community on Sunday, he said he was starting to also view it as a "teachable moment" in how the actions of a few can be so disruptive across a community during the coronavirus health crisis.
"It's an opportunity to educate," he said. "That's the business we're in."
The district's directive stated that all high school classes go fully remote for two weeks, while all athletic and other extracurricular activities are canceled through Nov. 7. Buckey told Patch on Monday that the district will then decide, in consultation with the Board of Health, whether classes can resume on Nov. 9.
The letter to the community requested that parents and guardians take any students who were at the party to be tested for coronavirus, as well as students who were then in close contact with any students who were at the party. Parents, guardians and siblings of anyone who attended the party were asked to quarantine for 14 days and monitor for symptoms.
"People have done the right thing," Buckey said on Monday. "With the outline of what we wanted them to do they have taken that to heart. As the superintendent, I am pleased by the commitment of people to do the right thing.
"I do think that there is an increased awareness and appreciation for these not being ordinary times. A high school party is not something that is out of the ordinary — it is not condoned or sanctioned, but it is not that unusual. However, it takes on a whole different context in the age of COVID. The ramifications of one event like that could be significant."
Buckey said there was a "robust conversation" in the meeting about whether to send the high school to remote learning, or whether to have the entire district go remote, and that he was happy the group came up with a unified decision to take the current course of action.
"We want to maintain in-person learning as long as we can do it safely," Buckey said. "Our efforts in the buildings with adhering to social distancing, hand washing, mask wearing, have been exemplary.
"But an event like this has the potential to be a super spreader event. You just don't know. So that's why I feel confident we made the right decision."
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This article originally appeared on the Marblehead Patch
