Framingham Families Need To Decide Remote Or In-Person by March 17

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FRAMINGHAM – With the state demanding in-person learning for all elementary and middle school students in April 2021, Framingham families were told today, March 12, they have until March 17 to decide if their child(ren) will stay remote for the rest of the 2020-21 school year or move to in-person learning.

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to empower Education Commissioner Jeff Riley to direct the return of all elementary and middle school students to in-person learning next month: 

• Grades K-5 will be returning 5 days a week, every week on April 5
• Grades 6-8 will be returning 5 days a week, every week on April 28

“The Commissioner has not yet directed the return of all high school students, but I fully expect that notification to come shortly. In preparation for that announcement, we are proactively planning for the return of students in grades 9-12 at a date yet to be determined,” said Framingham Supt. Bob Tremblay.

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“Under the new regulations, remote and hybrid learning models will no longer count toward student learning time and therefore a shift to in-person instruction is required,” wrote Tremblay to school staff & parents.

“Families who elect to remain remote for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year, however, may still do so without penalty,” said Tremblay.

“In preparation for the return of students, however, we must collect new baseline data on how many students are returning in April and how many are staying remote or making a switch from one model to another to help inform any necessary operational adjustments that need to be made,” said Framingham Public School District Superintendent Tremblay.

Families were sent a message today, March 12 about the changes along with a survey.

Survey responses are due by March 17.

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These new “survey responses will replace any previous responses that have been provided. This survey also replaces any future decision-making checkpoints,” said Supt. Tremblay.

families who do not response to the survey will automatically be in-person learning for the rest of the school year.

Tremblay said there are ” impacts to this regulation that the FPS Leadership team and School Committee will be discussing with the Framingham Teachers Association (FTA) in the coming days.

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