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Burlington Schools to Go Full Remote for the Week After Thanksgiving

Burlington Public Schools will be going remote for a week after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Superintendent of Schools Eric Conti made the announcement Monday evening.

“I know there has been a great deal of conversation about the merits and challenges with moving all students to a remote environment the week of November 30th,” he wrote. “After considering all of the factors and opinions, we are finalizing this decision.  All students will access school remotely Monday, November 30th through Friday, December 4th.  Students will be returning to in-person learning on Monday, December 7th. There will be no After School Program during the remote week.”

Conti said the primary reasons for this decision are the risk factors that come with the growing number of positive cases in the state and the community, the increasing number of states added to the “high risk” category, the Thanksgiving holiday, the return of college students for their winter breaks, the long wait times for molecular testing and results, and other considerations.

Conti said school administrators know that having students learn from home can be an inconvenience but they are balancing that with safety.

“Our intention is to keep students and staff safe and to allow our schools to remain open as long as possible,” he said. “We believe that a limited and scheduled closure of 5 days will help us to avoid a large number of random 14 day classroom closures and possible building closures similar to those that have occurred in neighboring communities.”

Information shared by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents shows that 97 percent of persons with COVID-19 who develop symptoms will do so within 11.5 days of infection, Conti explained. The building closure from the half-day Wednesday, November 25th to Monday, December 7th will provide them with this window of time.

“In other words, this limited remote break will allow us to know the impact of the Thanksgiving holiday ahead of experiencing this impact in our classrooms. We could not make this decision once students and staff returned to in-person instruction,” he said.

Finally, Superintendent Conti said he is asking for everyone to be patient and flexible.

“We understand that this decision is not ideal nor certain and that we are asking a great deal of our teachers,” he said. “We are trying to be as proactive as possible so that our buildings can remain open as COVID cases continue to rise. We want students and teachers to be in school. Thank you for your understanding and patience.”