Inter-Lakes board approves school reopening plan

MEREDITH — Meeting in a parking lot, wearing masks and practicing social distancing, the Inter-Lakes School Board approved plans Monday for students to return to classrooms for in-person instruction next month.

The school year starts on Sept. 8, with some grades returning on certain days in a staggered opening format. All students participating in in-person instruction return to school on Sept. 15. The Virtual Learning Academy Charter School in Exeter will provide classes for those who opt for remote learning.

Superintendent Mary Moriarty stressed that plans were designed to be flexible. Students participating in online instruction could choose to return to the classroom. Also, those participating in remote learning could choose to take a particular class in school instead of online.

Plans for in-person instruction could change based on activity of COVID-19 in the local area, adequacy of staffing levels, even the ability to get sufficient cleaning materials.

“It’s important to think of this as an agile model,” Moriarty said. “I like to think of this as having a dial and it’s a dial that can be as high as full, everybody is in, and as low as everybody is remote, like we did last year.”

The “dial” will have four positions:

• Full, in which all students opting for in-person instruction would be at school.

• Reduced, meaning there could be one group of students who would go for in-person instruction on certain days, and another group on other days.

• Partial remote, where students who have significant needs or lack access to a stable Internet would come to school along with some staff.

• Full remote, where all students would take classes online.

“The reason for this is we are going to have to be nimble,” Moriarty said.

The first coronavirus case would result in an immediate shutdown of classes and a re-evaluation. Students would be required to wear masks in and out of the classroom and traffic patterns would be set up to avoid crowded halls. Parents dropping off or picking up children need to wear a facial covering.

Guidance documents of the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association will be followed concerning sports competition, with the caveat that the district could choose to forfeit games scheduled in areas where there is a disease outbreak at a higher rate of infection than is being experienced locally.

Public comments at the school board meeting ranged from those who felt the precautions were too restrictive, to those who said it is dangerous to open schools during this pandemic.

Lindsay Weiner quit her job as PTO president after the meeting, saying not enough is being done to support teachers. She has two children in the district, one going into kindergarten and the other going into second grade.

The district sent teachers a letter listing applicable leave provisions that could apply for employees who have special considerations for returning to onsite work.

“However, even if one qualifies for those protections, why should they have to use up those leave opportunities because of a pandemic that’s completely out of their control,” she told the board. “And for those who don’t qualify, then they are forced to leave their jobs and they won’t be eligible for unemployment benefits.

“I do not think schools should be reopening under the current circumstances anywhere in the country except to serve our at-risk and special needs students.”

She also criticized the provision under which students who opt for remote instruction will take instruction from the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School rather than local educators.

Ashley Dunn, a Meredith veterinarian with two children in the elementary school, said some of those attending the meeting failed to follow online instructions for the meeting that said people who got out of their cars should wear a mask.

“That hasn’t happened, and that certainly doesn’t instill confidence for me,” she said.

“My real questions are these: Have you started a draft of the letter that you are going to send to parents when the first community member dies? Will the school year 2021 have to start with a moment of silence, for those that we’ve lost? Where on the school grounds are we going to put the plaque in memoriam for those we lost?

“These are the decisions we are making in a parking lot, again, because you’ve decided it’s not safe for us to be in a building. Going back to school as-is is terrifying and I don’t have any trust that it’s going to be safe.”

Kimberly Ide, of Center Harbor, said her family doesn’t wear masks. She came to the microphone and spoke without wearing one. She questioned a district rule that students maintain 3 feet to 6 feet of separation in classes and wear masks.

“If they are socially distant, why can’t they keep masks off during learning?” she asked.

She said there is too much negativity directed at those who don’t wear masks, and too much fear.

“This virus is a deadly virus, but it has a very high recovery rate,” she said.

Doug Hentz, of Meredith, who has a son who will be a senior this year, said there has been only seven cases of coronavirus in a town with more than 6,000 residents, and many more visitors during the tourist season.

“It just seems illogical to me that we’ve got to close our doors and freak out about something when the rate of infection is next to nil,” he said. “We do have a better chance of getting struck by lightning or getting hit by a car.”