Education & COVID-19

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) issued its most recent Student Engagement Guidance, which replaces the department’s January 2021 guidance. The most recent guidance includes new and updated resources to help districts develop, strengthen, and implement comprehensive systems for engaging with students and their families, connecting students and families with additional supports they may need, and promoting student safety.

On May 29, 2021, the Baker-Polito Administration lifted all COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandates in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Following the state’s reopening announcement, The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) issued updated guidance to districts and schools to help interpret the announcement for school settings across three time periods:

Through the end of the 2020-2021 school year:

For the remainder of the school year, districts and schools continued to use core mitigation strategies that were issued in DESE’s Initial Fall School Reopening Guidance, which prioritized the safe return of students back to school by following a comprehensive set of health and safety requirements. The core mitigation strategies, with the exception of outdoor masking, included indoor masking, physical distancing, cleaning and disinfecting, symptom screening, contact tracing and hand hygiene.
- In compliance with the state mask advisory, fully vaccinated educators did not have to wear masks outdoors whereas unvaccinated educators were encouraged to wear them outdoors.
- Most other guidance also remained in place with a couple exceptions.
  - The graduation guidance was updated to reduce restrictions in line with the Commonwealth’s updates.
  - The career/vocational technical education reopening guidance included appropriate safety measures to promote the safety of students, teachers and staff.

Summer school and other summer programs:

DESE does not plan to issue separate guidance for summer school programs. Instead, summer programs, districts and schools are encouraged to follow the health and safety guidance in DESE's In-Person Learning and Student Learning Time Requirements, which required districts to prepare plans for three learning models heading into the 2020-2021 school year- in-person, hybrid and remote- while prioritizing in-person learning whenever possible.
- In preparation for the summer, districts are encouraged to revisit DESE’s Initial Fall School Reopening Guidance as it is similar to the In-Person Learning and Student Learning Time Requirements.
On April 30, 2021, the Baker-Polito Administration announced the availability of funding and resources for school districts and community organizations to offer summer learning and recreational programs that will help students who have experienced educational challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- For the past year, the MassInc Polling Group, a non-partisan, public opinion research firm, has conducted a four-part series of parent surveys to examine the impact of COVID-19 on students and families and the quality of the state’s education system during the pandemic.
  - The first wave, conducted in May/ June 2020, found that schools offered very different levels of activity and engagement to students and parents alike.
  - The second wave, conducted in October 2020, found significant educational challenges during COVID-19 and the need for clear, transparent data on learning experiences and outcomes.
  - The third wave, conducted in February/March 2021, found divided perspectives between parents on school reopening plans.
  - The fourth wave, conducted in April/May 2021, found concerns over students’ learning loss.

Fall 2021 school reopening:

For Fall 2021, districts and schools will be required to be in-person, full-time, five days a week, and all DESE health and safety requirements, including physical distancing requirements, will be lifted. Districts will no longer be able to offer remote learning as a standard learning model.
- DESE encourages schools to maintain hand hygiene and will extend policies that encourage students and staff to continue to stay home when sick.
As schools begin to operate as they did prior to the pandemic, districts should continue to consult DESE’s Rethinking Discipline Initiative, which is a resource to assist in the reduction of inappropriate or excessive use of long-term suspension and expulsion, including disparate rates of suspension and expulsion for students with disabilities and/or for students of color.
- DESE’s Promoting Student Engagement, Learning, Wellbeing and Safety During Remote and Hybrid Learning strongly recommends that schools avoid using exclusionary discipline due to the impact of the pandemic. The guidance also encourages numerous strategies for use by schools and districts to work with a student and their family or other providers before resorting to a Child Requiring Assistance application (CRA).
  - To read more about the experiences of K-12 parents during the COVID-19 pandemic as it relates to exclusionary discipline and child welfare referrals, click here.

Education & COVID-19

Winter 2020-