I am pleased to share our reopening plan for the 2020-21 school year. This plan represents our recommendation for returning Salem Public School children to school this fall. Over the last two months, the Salem Returns Reopening Task Force has engaged teachers, support staff, health professionals, building leaders and district administrators in ongoing discussions about a safe and educationally sound approach to welcoming our students and staff back to school after the life altering COVID-19 pandemic. As a group, we have weighed the academic, social and emotional needs of students with important health and wellness considerations for staff and children. In doing so, we examined scientific/medical research, analyzed parent and staff survey results, reviewed Department of Education (DESE) guidance, conducted assessments of our facilities (capacity, HVAC and outdoor spaces), explored learning managements systems and carefully studied our school-based routines and operations. The efforts of the task force were supplemented by information received from family, teacher and student town halls, staff focus groups, weekly Facebook Live sessions, meet and greets with parents and regular meetings with school leaders. Read more...

n response to the feedback and ideas that we have received on our reopening option plan since our school committee meeting on Wednesday we realized that we needed additional time to incorporate this input as part of our final recommendation for our return to school. For this reason, we now plan to release our recommendation at the school committee on Thursday evening rather than Tuesday. In doing so, we will delay the school committee vote from Thursday, August 6th until Monday, August 10th, the day that our plan is due to the Department of Education. This will afford the Salem community two opportunities to offer public comment on the recommendation (School Committee meetings on August 6th and August 10th) and provide the school committee additional time to consider the interests of the Salem community. Thank you for your continued support and engagement as we prepare to welcome our students and staff back to school this fall.

A Note from Superintendent, Dr. Stephen Zrike We are pleased to share Salem’s reopening plan that offers three distinct options for students to return to school this fall. Our plan has been informed by a task force of parents, school committee members, educators, district administrators and city officials. In an effort to engage our stakeholders we have surveyed families and staff in addition to hosting town halls, focus groups, meet and greets and Facebook live sessions. These discussions have been invaluable in shaping the proposed models for in-person, hybrid and remote learning. Our collective efforts are guided by our four critical values of wellness, equity, community and flexibility. We are committed to keeping our students and staff healthy, prioritizing learning experiences for our most vulnerable students, designing a plan that matches the needs of our community and remaining flexible and nimble as we prepare to welcome students back to school. We appreciate the collaboration, input and advocacy of so many constituents who are invested in providing Salem’s children with a first-rate educational experience. This plan is the DESE required plan outlining all three options and how we are thinking about them. The full plan for the reopening of schools will be released to the public next week and public feedback opportunities will be made available before submission to DESE. Respectfully, Dr. Stephen Zrike