Wellesley High back to hybrid learning; schools tightening budget belts due to COVID

January 21, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley High School returned to a hybrid model of education on Tuesday, after students spent a week learning remotely due to an increase in positive COVID-19 test results. Data located on the district’s COVID dashboard reflects that in the date range of Jan. 8 – Jan. 21 there were 22 positive tests in the public school system, with the highest number during that time (10) coming from WHS. The high numbers caused a shift at the high school to full remote learning.

Wellesley High School, fall 2020

Superintendent David Lussier during the Jan. 12 School Committee meeting said the data is essential in allowing the district to take “targeted actions that might be appropriate at one school that really aren’t warranted at other schools. While we never want to see schools closed, period, the fact that we’re able to target this for one school at a particular time speaks to how much we’ve learned.”

Some parents, however, are concerned about the impact of remote learning on the quality of education that is delivered, and the impact of remote learning on students’ mental health. A letter about this was signed by hundreds of parents and sent to school and other town officials.

The upshot: a large number of parents want their kids back in school full time.

The school and health departments are reworking the public schools reopening measures dashboard, whose underlying measures need to be updated in light of new data from the town and beyond regarding COVID-19. Currently, Wellesley Public Schools are failing all three measures highlighted in the dashboard.

Our take: we’d like to be wrong on this, but in reading between the lines, it seems unlikely that there will be a return to full-time school across grade levels for the rest of the year. Though the vaccine could allow some changes.

Why students aren’t back in school full-time

In an effort to manage expectations while addressing parent concerns, Lussier said that the overarching goal has been to “bring back students within grade levels who have exceptional needs, whose needs can’t be met adequately through remote learning.”

Additional prioritized students are those in Pre-K, K, and grades 1 and 2. Those students are back in school four days per week. Wednesday, traditionally a half-day for Wellesley’s elementary school students, is a remote learning half-day.

The biggest consideration on bringing back the rest of the grades centers around social distancing. The WPS have in place a a 6-feet social distance standard, which is in keeping with the Centers for Disease Control standard.

“We believe that standard needs to stay in place for now” to prevent in school transmission, Lussier said. In addition, “We don’t have anymore spaces to be bringing back any more whole grade levels.”

Lussier also cited as concerns the increased need for contact tracing that would result should additional whole grades be brought back into the schools; lunch-time, with its no-mask environment; and bus transportation needs for K – grade 6 students who live over two miles from school. By state law, the district must provide transportation to those students.

School budget, FY2022

Under guidelines the School Committee received from the Select Board, there is to be an increase in the FY22 budget of no more than 2.5%. “That’s quite slim,” said Linda Chow, “but certainly a reflection on the times we’re in and the impact of COVID on town finances.”

In FY2021, Town Meeting voted to appropriate $80,379,651 to the schools. A 2.5% increase would boost the FY22 schools budget by a little over $2 million.

The budget will be strictly a service-level affair, the goal being to hang onto all educational programming at the level at which it now operates at the very least. There will be no expected investments in new programs. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that all current programming is safe from potential cuts.

One line item that can substantially fluctuate upward: the money set aside for special education needs. The FY22 budget currently is based on the town’s known special education needs, but variables are always possible. “The budget is based on only the known costs we have in special education, or that can be reasonably anticipated,” Lussier said.

Level services may also need to include additional student interventions to close education gaps created by the pandemic.

Wellesley schools, FY22 Budget

Upcoming meetings:

Jan. 26: School Committee meeting
Watch School Committee Meetings online at wellesleymedia.org
Comcast 8 & 9
Verizon 39 & 40

Feb. 2: School Committee meeting and public hearing. The community is invited to ask specific questions and make comments during this meeting.

Feb. 9: School Committee votes on the budget

Mar. 3: Advisory Committee will review the SC budget

Apr./May 2021: Town Meeting

Wellesley Health Department social workers offering residents a group online chat

January 16, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

In light of recent attack on the U.S. Capitol and continued stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wellesley Health Department is hosting an online chat via Zoom with its social workers, who will be there to listen and share tips for self-care. The event, which could become a regular thing if there’s interest, takes place on Thursday, Jan. 28 from 1-2 p.m.

To register, please email your name and phone number to Senior Community Social Worker Joyce Saret at [email protected]

Thank you Swellesley Report supporters & on to Year Sweet 16

Wellesley vaccinates first responders against COVID-19

January 11, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley’s Health Department, armed with doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, set up shop on Monday at Fire Department Headquarters on Route 9 to vaccinate first responders.

First up were firefighters Joanie Cullinan and Brian Hester, both of whom have faced serious health situations. Cullinan has recovered from Stage 3 Melanoma and become an effective advocate for occupational cancer awareness. Hester, a firefighter since 2002, became sick with COVID-19 in the spring and did a grand tour of local health facilities over 10 weeks fighting off the respiratory disease. Feeling lucky to be at the vaccine clinic, Hester said he is still dealing with after-effects from COVID-19 but hopes to return to work sooner than later.

ff vaccines wellesley — Firefighter Brian Hester keeps his eye on the needle

This was no private doctor’s office visit. The firefighters, in familiar surroundings at the firehouse, received their vaccinations with bemused expressions as camera crews from local TV news stations captured the whole thing for posterity.

Hester said getting the shot was no problem. “I didn’t feel a thing,” he quipped.

#Wellesley vaccinates first responders against #COVID19 https://t.co/AZ9HcGiz19 #vaccines @moderna_tx @WellesleyFire pic.twitter.com/y0ib8yEqA1

— swellesley (@swellesley) January 12, 2021

Cullinan is still going in for screenings in the aftermath of her cancer treatments, but is back to work and feeling strong. She refers to herself as “a professional patient at this point,” and says getting the vaccine made this a good day, allowing firefighters “to protect our families and keep everyone else safe.”

When asked for her message to other first responders about getting the vaccine, she said “everybody’s got to do what’s right for them,” but that it was the right choice for her, her family, and colleagues. Naturally, some of those colleagues headed out on a call when we were there, sirens blaring upon their departure.

Three other Wellesley firefighters and five Wellesley police officers were also vaccinated, with more set to receive shots later this week.

Health Department Director Lenny Izzo, who was on site, said “we’re prepared, we’re ready for this.” He and the rest of the staff have spent recent weeks working out the various challenges that the town faces in administering the vaccine, including the transport and cold storage of it, as well as scheduling injections. While much has been made of storage challenges, he says the town has had no issue handling that end of things.

Izzo told us during a recent interview that vaccines will be dispensed in a staggered process, to ensure that not too many first responders could potentially suffer bad reactions at once.

For this first round, health officials received 100 vials of the Moderna vaccine and expect another allocation within a week to complete the first responder vaccinations. Ann Marie McCauley, the town’s public health nurse supervisor, said during Monday’s Board of Health meeting that the Health Department plans to use every drop of vaccine during six clinics over the course of this week, and still won’t have enough for all first responders.

First responders, along with healthcare workers and those in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are among those designated by the state to be vaccinated at the start.

Thank you Swellesley Report supporters & on to Year Sweet 16

Rise in COVID-19 cases forces Wellesley High back to all-remote

January 8, 2021 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

Wellesley High School Wellesley Public School and town health officials feared that the return from the holiday break could result in a rise in COVID-19 cases. Speculation was swirling among parents that a return to full-remote could be in the offing even as they urged the Health and School Department to renew efforts to update COVID-19 dashboard metrics and bring students back to full in-person learning.

Unfortunately, fears that a spike in cases would happen has been realized, and WPS is failing two of its three COVID-19 dashboard metrics, a trigger to reevaluate the educational model in use. Wellesley High School will return to all-remote education on Jan. 11, with a planned return to hybrid schooling on Jan. 19. This means that the winter athletic season has also been put on hold (no practices, games or competitions until Jan. 19 at the earliest).

The School Department briefed the School Committee shortly before Christmas on the successes of its viral testing program, and the funding status of it. One key marketing point by those touting it is that the program has allowed the school system to close down schools in a targeted way, as it is now doing with the high school.

Here’s what Wellesley Public Schools Supt. David Lussier and Health Department Director Lenny Izzo shared in a Friday night memo:

Dear Members of the Wellesley Public Schools Community,

We write to provide you with an update on Covid-19 in WPS this week. We saw positive cases at multiple schools, including single cases at Bates and Upham, two cases at Sprague, and five cases at WMS. All but two of these cases are students. None of these cases involved in-school transmission of the virus.

Our most challenging situation is at Wellesley High School where we documented 10 positive cases this week. All but one of these cases are students. Two of these cases may have emerged through in-classroom transmission, although we cannot confirm that with full certainty. (We will be conducting a more thorough review next week.) The aggregated number of close contacts and other absences has resulted in a significant number of students and staff who cannot attend school in person. We are particularly concerned that we do not have enough staff to safely open the school next week.

After a careful review of all of these facts, the School Department and Health Department have jointly determined that Wellesley High School will transition to full remote learning on Monday, January 11th, with a planned return to hybrid learning on Tuesday, January 19th. All WHS winter sports will be on hold during this time and may also resume on January 19th.

It is absolutely critical that our entire school community work together and adhere to the safety protocols of wearing masks, social distancing, frequent hand-washing, and avoiding large group gatherings. It is particularly important that we support our students in doing this anytime they are outside of their homes.

We recognize that this is disappointing news given all of our safety efforts, but we also believe strongly that this response is both appropriate and targeted based on the information we have collected. All other WPS schools will continue to follow their regular hybrid schedules next week.

Thank you for your ongoing efforts to keep our entire community safe.

Dr. David Lussier

Superintendent of Schools

Leonard Izzo

Director, Wellesley Health Department

Thank you Swellesley Report supporters & on to Year Sweet 16

Wellesley teens make Warren Park playground sensory friendly

January 6, 2021 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

It wasn’t long ago when playgrounds across Wellesley were off limits, surrounded by orange plastic fencing or other materials aimed at preventing kids from spreading COVID-19 on swings, slides, and in sandboxes. Now with concerns lessened about the disease being transmitted via surfaces, playgrounds are back in action, and not only that, Wellesley has new equipment at Warren Park that is all about being touched and encouraging sensory play.

“It seemed like it belonged there the whole time,” Natural Resources Commission (NRC) Director Brandon Schmitt told the Wellesley Community Preservation Committee (CPC) during a meeting in December, shortly after the equipment at the 90 Washington St., playground outside the Recreation Center was installed.

music store equipment at warren park — Photo courtesy of Sam Beuker

The colorful new Cozy Cocoon and Music Store equipment are the result of efforts by Jake Merritt, a Wellesley High School senior,, and Alex Battle Abdelal, a senior at Noble and Greenough School.

The friends came to be interested in making a Wellesley playground sensory-friendly through different paths.

Merritt had begun volunteering with a program in Boston called Teens Engaged as Mentors that provides social outings and leadership opportunities for kids. “Seeing the positive effects of that program and the community that was built around it inspired me to begin looking at how I could help kids with autism within my own community,” he says.

Abdelal traces his interest in the subject a few years back when he was performing in the play “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” in which the lead character is boy on the autism spectrum.

“Because of this, I had been immersed in research related to autism studies for months,” he says. “The play—and researching for my performance in it—showed me the need for inclusive spaces that honor neurodiversity.

“[Jake and I] found ourselves talking about the subject and learning about it together, and we came across this rather new invention of ‘sensory-friendly parks,'” Abdelal says.

Their research found that the nearest sensory-friendly playground to Wellesley was more than an hour away.

“Alex and I saw an opportunity to provide a more inclusive experience to not just people in Wellesley, but hopefully for people in surrounding towns hoping to find more inclusive playgrounds,” Merritt says.

The young men initially planned to raise $10K and add the playground equipment as a gift to the town. During the planning process to raise funds, they came in contact with the NRC’s Schmitt, who they say took a great interest in the project and helped them learn about ways to get town funding.

The process took about a year, between finding a company to make and install the equipment, and presenting before numerous town boards and committees, including the NRC, Design Review Board and CPC.

The proposal was refined as a result of the CPC meeting. “Some of the parts were taken away, some were added, and the budget was adjusted to $12,000,” Merritt says.

Cozy Cocoon and Music Store

Taking a closer look at the new equipment, the Cozy Cocoon serves a couple of functions, according to Merritt.

cozy cocoon playground equipment — Photo courtesy of Sam Beuker

“First of all, it is a place a child might go if over-stimulated. Sometimes it helps to escape the hustle and bustle of the playground, and the Cozy Cocoon helps with that,” he says. “Second, the Cocoon is lined with a number of different textures. This offers an opportunity for tactical exploration, which is good for all kids, not just those on the Autism Spectrum.”

The Cozy Cocoon complements the other new equipment, dubbed the Music Store, which adds a splash of color to the otherwise subdued tones of the Warren Park playground. It encourages tactile exploration, with a variety of instruments, including drums and bells. “The Music Store incorporates another sense, our sense of hearing, into the playground experience through the various instruments.,” Merritt says.

music store equipment at warren park playground — Photo courtesy of Sam Beuker

Merritt and Abdelal have talked about expanding the project to other Wellesley playgrounds, including at elementary schools, but there are no formal plans. For now though, Wellesley is fortunate to have some of the only outdoor equipment of its kind in the area.

Wellesley Animal Control Officer Sue Webb to retire after 45 years on the job

January 3, 2021 by Deborah Brown 15 Comments

Wellesley Animal Officer Sue Web is set to retire this month after 45 years on the job keeping the town safe for residents by making sure that animals are kept under control, licensed, and vaccinated, among other duties.

World of Wellesley event — Animal Control Officer Sue Webb, pictured with Officer Lamars Hughes, 2018.

In an email, Officer Webb says starting Stray Pets in Need (SPIN) is one of the projects she’s most proud of. The program, she says, makes sure “all unclaimed pets had a place to go for treatment and adoption so animals picked up by Animal Control are never euthanized due to lack of space or funding for medical treatment.”

She also cited promoting microchip clinics to implant tiny transponders in pets’ skin to aid in finding lost animals. Because of the program, she says the town has a very high rate of return to owners of both dogs and cats.

Officer Webb has also over the years stepped up coordination with volunteers and veterinarians to trap, spay/neuter, vaccinate and return feral cats to their feeders or colonies. The program experienced its intended gradual success, getting Wellesley to the point where the town no longer has colonies of feral cats.

One part of the job Officer Webb really enjoyed was the opportunity to tell young people about what she does. “When it was possible to go into the schools, I really enjoyed educating the kids and had developed different topic for each grade level so they learned something new each year I came to talk.”

As for the future, Officer Webb will continue her volunteer work with SPIN to coordinate volunteers to help with transportation of senior’s pets to veterinary appointments. She also coordinates foster for pets from domestic violence programs through Safe People Safe Pets.

“There are so many other issues I want to devote more time promote through legislation and networking with others,” Officer Webb says, as well as taking “some time to travel in my camper and visit friends and interesting sites around the country.”

As of her retirement date, Tuesday, January 5, 2021, that time will be hers.

We wish Sue well.

Think you can fill Officer Webb’s shoes? Here’s what it takes:

The Town of Wellesley is currently seeking an Animal Control Officer. The incumbent in this role will be responsible for enforcing Wellesley’s Animal Control By-law including Chapter 140, Section 136-175 of the General Laws of the State.

Under the general supervision of the Police Chief, this position provides a safe environment for its citizens and protects them against disease and uncontrollable dogs or other animals and determines if dogs or pets are a nuisance, miscreant of duly licensed within the meaning of the Animal Control By-law. The incumbent investigates and reports all animal bites to the Board of Health and is responsible for proper quarantine of the animals reported to have bitten a person for the mandatory 10 day isolation period and reporting to the condition of the animal at the end of the 10 day isolation period. Additionally, this position takes animal specimens to the State Diagnostic Laboratory in Jamaica Plain for evaluation that have been involved in biting situations of humans, assists at annual dog rabies clinics and makes annual inspections of all premises in Wellesley that keep domestic livestock. Additional duties include patrolling school playgrounds and other recreational areas in a specially equipped van to seek out and capture uncontrolled, stray, unlicensed and other dogs in violation of the By-law and transporting to kennel for impoundment or place in custody of a veterinarian for hospitalization, investigating complaints and taking appropriate action as warranted, including snaring animals with rope, net or other approved devices and place animal in caged vehicle or will issue citation notice or restraining order to owner in accordance with the Animal Control By-law and will follow up to assure owner is in compliance.

More here.

Wellesley first responders getting Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in January

January 1, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley’s Health Department is coordinating with a handful of nearby communities to vaccinate first responders against COVID-19, and Wellesley could be dispensing the first of two Moderna vaccine doses as soon as Jan. 11.

During the Dec. 30 Board of Health Meeting (beginning about 33 minutes into the Wellesley Media recording), Health Department Director Lenny Izzo discussed various challenges that the town is wrangling with, including the transport and cold storage of the vaccine, as well as scheduling injections.

“It’s not as seamless or as easy we initially envisioned,” Izzo said. A lot depends on how the state handles things in terms of when it actually sends the vaccine and how much it sends, he said. The town initially requested more than 100 doses, though Izzo was reevaluating whether more would be needed at the outset. Through the regional approach to coordinating the vaccine distribution, the communities within a region are likely to schedule vaccinations at roughly the same time, so that they can share any unused doses with each other on the fly once a vial is opened.

As Izzo told us during a recent interview, vaccines will be dispensed in a staggered process, to ensure that not too many first responders could potentially suffer bad reactions at once. First responders, along with healthcare workers and those in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are among those designated by the state to be vaccinated at the start (at least one of Wellesley’s nursing homes is slated to start vaccinations this coming week).

One good thing about the timing for first responder vaccinations is that the town now shouldn’t need to go forward with surveillance testing of firefighters and police that had proved challenging in the first place, said Board member Marcia Testa Simonson. Willingness to get vaccinated among those departments looks to be fairly high, Izzo said.

One logistical question being mulled is when to vaccinate the Health Department staff that will be vaccinating the first responders in light of the staff likely feeling after effects from their own shots. “I can’t imagine vaccinating one of our nurses and then having them stand around for three or four hours administering vaccines,” Izzo said.

Dr. Shira Doron, a Wellesley resident and epidemiologist with Tufts Medical Center, joined the recent Board of Health call, and shared her experiences so far at the hospital, which had already vaccinated several thousand employees. Those vaccinated have reported serious chills overnight, but have not been prevented from going to work the next day. “But dose 2 will be a different story. It will be a lot worse…,” she said.

While not sugar coating the side effects, Doron said she and colleagues are doing what they can to educate the public about COVID-19 vaccines and debunk misinformation. She’s reached out to the Wellesley High’s safety committee to see if there’s interest in Doron and colleagues getting in front of teachers, and she’s volunteered to do the same for first responders. “We do this in our sleep, this is what we do all day now,” she said.

Parents speak out about schools

The Board of Health meeting kicked off with a citizen speak portion during which parent Kerry Bedard summarized a letter written on behalf of herself and others concerned with the educational and emotional toll that the town’s hybrid education model is having on students and families. Rumblings of a return to all-remote education also has them nervous, said Bedard, who noted that the letter is being shared with the Board of Health, School Committee, Select Board, and Wellesley Public Schools Supt. Dr. David Lussier.

The letter (embedded below) lays out four considerations:

Revisit school reopening metrics developed months ago in light of the latest data
Dynamic revisiting of barriers (such as social distancing metrics) to full in-person learning
Ability for parents, students, and teachers to have more of a say in the decision-making process
Review the transparency of decision making

“We just feel given what we’ve experienced in the spring [and] what we’re seeing in the fall, school is an essential business for our kids,” said Bedard, who has two daughters at the high school. “We need to get our kids back to school full, in person as quickly and safely as we can…”

The citizen speak segment of the meeting, which also included another parent adding to the points in the letter, took an unusual twist. Typically, town boards emphasize that citizen speak is solely for citizens to have their say, but not involve discussion. But Testa Simonson made a motion to convert the subject of the letter into a new business agenda item, which was then discussed. She said the letter addressed four very good points, and noted that on the metrics front, there’s a need to look at them from a perspective of when schools open for full in-person learning rather than just when they go into full remote.

Board Chair Shep Cohen said that the letter and considerations raised will be discussed when the Board and school officials meet this coming week.

Note: A recap of the Wellesley Public Schools viral testing program, and an outlook on continued funding, was shared by Lussier and others during the Dec. 22 School Committee meeting.

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