Not Now: Belmont Schools Decline Virtual Classroom In Remote Learning Program

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Photo: First slide in the Belmont School District’s overview of its Phase II remote learning program.

While a sizable number of Belmont parents – in online message boards, text communications and emails – are pushing the school district to employ a more traditional teacher/students learning experience via a virtual classroom, it appears, for now, Belmont’s educators will be staying with its current remote learning plan.

That was the conclusion of a wide-ranging Town Hall-styled forum held by the Belmont School Committee via video conferencing on Tuesday, April 7.

Approximately 85 residents “attended” the session, which allowed the committee and the school district to update the rollout of Phase II of the district’s Remote Learning curriculum that began on Monday, April 5.

The key components in this teacher-led phase are creating direct learning that includes social-emotional learning, maintenance of previously learned skills and contents as well as meaningful learning opportunities as students advance the curriculum in both skills and content.

On Tuesday, the school committee heard from Belmont Superintendent John Phelan and members of the district’s central office presented a step-by-step outline of the Phase II plan while answering a harvest load of questions on how the schools have been handling the school closures and remote learning.

You can see the answers to parents’ questions as well as the district’s Phase II plan here.

But what has been a bone of contention for many parents is a growing disappointment across the grade spectrum that Belmont has not implemented a remote program that centers on classroom-style learning in which teachers would spend some part of their day “in front” of their students.

“Hopefully, phase II will include some virtual classroom learning for students which will assist with curriculum instruction allow students to see each other and learn together. Some schools who are doing virtual classrooms have used a modified schedule which has been great for teachers, student and parents,” said “Patrick” at the meeting.

In addition, parents were frustrated that Belmont schools spent the initial two weeks under Phase I which focused on “enrichment” of the studies that students had learned during the school year. They point to school districts such as Natick as committing to a virtual concept of educating its students.

“My first grader has gone from approximately 30 hours per week of seeing his first-grade teacher and peers to about 40 minutes per week maximum,” said Lindsay Doherty in a note to the meeting.

“K-4 teachers should be holding morning meetings 3-5 times per week if you are actually dedicated to [Social Emotional Learning]. That’s what is being required in other districts on top of at least [four] small group online meeting per week to check-in. Twice per week is not enough for these young kids.” said Doherty.

But despite parents’ advocacy, “[w]e do not have a plan right now for substantive changes to Phase II,” said Janice Darius, assistant superintendent.

John Phelan, Belmont’s superintendent, reminded the public that Phase II – which goes beyond what the state has asked of districts in doing remote learning – has only been up and running for two days.

“I reserve the right to say, ‘let’s let the teachers do their work for the next two weeks and then let’s assess it, let’s talk about what … is going well and … what might not be going well’.”

And at least for the near term, Phelan effectively put to rest any opportunity the district will set up an interactive lecture hall even if schools remain off-limits to students for the remainder of not just the school year but 2020.

“I can’t predict what next week or what next month holds but doing a straight online virtual classroom every day across the high school, middle school and elementary schools I don’t see happening this year,” he said.

The constraints preventing the implementation of a district-wide remote classroom program lies in two areas. The first is the need to ramp up the infrastructure and technology to create an effective and seamless teaching environment. In addition to the connectivity issues, there are significant security and privacy concerns that will need to be resolved as well as equity and access for all students.

The second hindrance to virtual lectures came from the working teacher on the School Committee. Tara Donner is an elementary school teacher in Winchester who acknowledged that many parents had been hoping that teachers and students would be “meeting” on a regular basis to conduct

“On one hand, yes, I totally agree that it’s not enough facetime but there so much about our situation right now that is not right for everyone,” said Donner. She told the meeting of her own experience in the classroom with kids how “there are so many things you can do all at one time” talking to a student, passing out assignments, monitoring homework.

“You can do five things at once, that in this home environment, each one of those things takes so much more time,” she said. “I think [increased facetime] is important for the kids to be able to see and connect, but it’s not the same as teaching.”

“So doing [virtual classroom] five times a week for however long does not accomplish the same thing and I think it can cause stress for some students,” said Donner.

The district is floating the idea of a survey to receive feedback from parents on their experiences and how to improve Phase II. But that would not be sent out until the last days of April.

While the current return to school date set by Gov. Baker is May 4, Phelan said students, teachers, and parents “must be a little more nimble with how we approach to school” with the knowledge there is a possibility social distancing will be reintroduced sometime during the 2020-2021 school year.

“Our goal is to try to create a dual learning environment where were we can be flexible if we have to open school for a few months and may be closed for several days or weeks and try to keep the momentum of the learning moving forward for the entire school year

Business Closed, Fined As Overtaxed Health Dept. Deals With COVID-19 Surge

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Photo: Masks are now advised for use by all citizens. (Credit: CDC/ Debora Cartagena)

A Belmont business was ordered closed and fined for violating the state’s non-essential business law as the town continues its efforts to steam the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wesley Chin, director of the town’s Health Department, told the Select Board during its meeting held via video conference on April 6, his department received word over the weekend that an unidentified establishment deemed non-essential was operating.

Gov. Charlie Baker issued COVID-19 order No. 21 on March 31 extending his original March 23 requiring all businesses and organizations in the state that do not provide “COVID-19 Essential Services” to close their physical workplaces and facilities to workers, customers, and the public until May 4, 2020.

“We have since sent a cease and desist order and [issued] a $300 fine to the business owner,” he said.

“It’s not what we want to do, but we also want people to know that they need to help us take [the shut down] seriously,” said Chin. “We don’t have the time to give people warnings, it’s just going to go right to a violation notice with a fine.”

When asked by Select Board Chair Tom Caputo if he has the staff level needed to meet the needs of the community, Chin said in the last week, “we’re starting to really feel the pinch … and we’re treading water” as he and his staff are “trying our best to keep up with things” including responding to a high level of emails “from concerned citizens with a lot of great ideas.”

On a hopeful note, Chin said his office just received a second $10,000 grant from the state’s COVID-19 emergency fund. The $20,000 will be used “to bring on additional nursing help … for the department to get through the duration of this difficult time.”

In his update on the COVID-19’s impact in Belmont, Chin reported 41 confirmed cases by the state’s Department of Public Health of the novel coronavirus as of Monday, April 6.

There has still been only one death – that of a resident of living at Belmont Manor, a rehabilitation and nursing facility – attributed to COVID-19.

Saying he hopes he doesn’t sound like a broken record, “[w]e do believe there are more cases out there that are positive” for the virus, warning that asymptomatic (the lack of any symptoms) spread of COVID-19 can occur.

“There are people walking around that seemed perfectly healthy that may not have any awareness but they’re spreading the virus to other people in the community,” said Chin, who reiterated the importance of social distancing, whether it is indoors at a supermarket or pharmacy or outside.

Chin also advocated the use of face coverings when leaving the house, again both when residents are inside and outdoors.

Letter To The Editor: Rash Remarks Due To A World Turned Upside Down

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Photo: Belmont public school

To the editor:

I am a member of the Belmont Warrant Committee, a long time Town Meeting member and parent of three children who have been educated in the Belmont School system, two of whom have graduated in recent years.

Last week at the Committee’s first meeting since the Coronavirus emergency, I made some rash statements regarding the teachers in the Belmont Schools that I would like to apologize for.

I expressed my frustration with the lack of speed that the Schools have taken to set up learning structures and recommendations for students, based on my own students’ experience thus far. I should not have expressed these frustrations in a way that maligned Belmont teachers or implied that teachers were not spending time planning for online teaching and learning.

I appreciate that our teachers are dedicated to our students. I apologize for these comments. I am from a family of teachers. And, as people who know me are keenly aware, I have been a long time supporter and advocate for the Belmont Schools and their appropriate funding during my time as a Warrant Committee member and as a parent volunteer.

My family, like everyone else’s, has been turned upside-down by this pandemic; one of my daughters is losing her final semester at college and her graduation, and my spouse is working in a hospital ICU. Our family had a particularly rocky day on the day of the Warrant Committee meeting – no excuse for my comments, but I wanted to provide that context.

I will be more constructive in my expressions in the future.

Thank you, and stay well during this time of crisis.

Chris Doyle, Warrant Committee

Bag Your Trash To Help Out Those Who Take It Away

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Photo: Waste Management truck

Washing your hands, putting on a cloth mask and staying indoors; those are acts all people should be doing to protect themselves and others during this long pandemic.

Add to that list one more thing: Bag your trash.

That’s the advice coming from Waste Management, the town’s trash and recycling hauler.

According to the national collector, due to increased concerns for worker safety due to the COVID-190 coronavirus, residents are being asked to place all household trash into large trash bags before placing them into the black carts and taking them to the curb for collection. The company also asks that all bags are properly sealed to prevent contents from spilling out as it is placed into the trucks.

The company reminds all customers that latex and other gloves used to protect individuals from spreading the virus be placed in the trash; they do not belong in the blue recycling containers.

First Death To COVID-19 In Belmont, Infected Cases Doubled In Three Days

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Photo: Belmont Health Department

The Belmont Health Department announced the first death of a Belmont resident related to COVID-19 in a press release dated Thursday, April 2.

The victim was a resident at a long-term care facility in Belmont, said Wesley Chin, Belmont’s Health Department director.

As of April 2, Belmont has 32 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, according to data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The number of positive residents has more than doubled since 14 residents were confirmed on March 30.

While he did not identify the facility, Belmont Manor in the Waverley neighborhood acknowledged this week that it had a confirmed case.

“This patient developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 while they were at the long-term care facility, and was transported to a local hospital for more advanced care where they died,” said Chin.

Chin said the facility has 14 residents who are confirmed positive cases.

Chin said that due to the infectious nature of COVID-19, “the long-term care facility is dedicating a wing of the facility to isolate patients suspected to be positive with the virus. The facility is also designating staff that will only work with patients exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.”

Staff of the long-term care facility is working with Belmont town departments (Belmont Emergency Management Agency [BEMA], Health Department, Fire Department EMS) and state agencies (Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency [MEMA], Massachusetts Department of Public Health [MDPH], and Massachusetts Bureau of Health Care Safety & Quality) to continue to identify all contacts and to proactively implement infection control measures to prevent spread.

To identify any additional patients positive for COVID-19, BEMA has requested assistance from MEMA to request that the Nursing and Rest Home testing program operated by the National Guard and MDPH conduct patient testing of all residents in the long-term care facility.

For updated information and news on the COVID-19 virus, go to https://www.belmont-ma.gov/home/urgent-alerts/covid-19-information-for-the-town-of-belmont-find- all-updates-here .

Budget Bloodbath: Belmont Finances ‘Severely Impacted’ Due To COVID-19; Cuts In Basic Services, A Call For Layoffs, Furloughs

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Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator

It’s ugly. And it’s likely to get uglier.

That’s the first impression of Belmont’s town finances after initial estimates of the impact on the current and next year’s budgets by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Town Administrator Patrice Garvin speaking before the Warrant Committee via video conference on April 1.

With all town departments already “running lean” before the pandemic struck “another cut is going to severely impact the operations and the services we provide the residents of the town,” said Garvin.

While there are “too many uncertainties” to make any good estimates of the likely shortfall, it’s nearly certain that the anticipated pronounced loss of revenue will place a strain on the current fiscal year 2020 budget while triggering real pain in next year’s fiscal 2021 budget – which begins July 1 – from lose of basic government services and likely layoffs and furloughs of town workers, according to Garvin.

“Direr but probably realistic,” said Warrant Committee Chair Laurie Slap hearing members reiterate their belief that revenues will drop significantly with resulting cuts in expenditures.

The sudden shut off of the revenue spigot comes as the town was close to finalizing the fiscal ’21 budget that was going to be brought before Town Meeting by the Select Board. The last draft presented to the Warrant Committee, the Town Meeting’s financial “watchdog,” projected the ’21 budget at $136.6 million.

For instance, a 10 percent cut in just one line item, total state aid in fiscal ’21, would force the town to slash $1.2 million from the budget that has a revenue gap of $5.6 million. Garvin noted state aid was reduced by 20 percent between 2008 and 2009 when the last economic downturn occurred.

The town is currently looking back at town budgets in 2008 and 2009 when the country last entered into recession to get an idea of how revenues took a hit.

Override in doubt?

In addition to services, Belmont, according to Select Board Chair Tom Caputo “will need to think long and hard about whether or not … our plans for an override in November still, in fact, make sense.” The proposed “operational” override – in the $6 million range – was seen as critical in meeting town services and needs by the school district in managing a continued surge in enrollment.

The rapidly moving series of events of the past six weeks due to strategies to halt the spread of the coronavirus has Garvin and her staff attempting to hit a moving target to provide the Warrant Committee some semblance of confidence it is receiving figures it can analyze.

When the seriousness of the spreading pandemic was fully understood two weeks ago, “we quickly came to the realization that fiscal year ’21 and some of fiscal ’20 could be severely impacted” most notably by the loss of state and local revenue, said Garvin.

Now and moving forward, the town has been “scrambling” to review its revenue projections from its February budget estimates, said Garvin.

Caputo said the massive disruption in the economy from the coronavirus requires the town “to rethink our [fiscal] ’21 budget that we laid out several months” which “was one that was going to work if everything remained as we had hoped” before the COVID-19 virus caused commerce and life to be upended.

While the largest sources of revenue, real estate property taxes with an estimated revenue of $92.2 million in fiscal ’21, continue to show high compliance levels, the town is preparing for significant reductions in the aforementioned state aid and local revenue collected from fees and services.

In a four-page overview of the ’21 budget, the town has been working on, the majority of line items are color-highlighted as likely to experience a drop in revenue.

Areas where revenue numbers will shrink from the February earlier estimates will be in new growth (expected at $920,000), meals ($234,000) and excise taxes ($3.7 million) and as will parking tickets and fees from building permits. The Recreation Department was seen as generating $1 million into the town’s coffers yet now could see receipts plummet if the Underwood Pool can not open for the summer recess.

While many of the fees are relatively small – from a few thousand to over a million dollars – if each takes a significant hit, they will add to a larger deficit in the fiscal year ’21 budget projections.

“In a nutshell, [fiscal year] ’21 is just a work in progress,” said Garvin. “We’re going to just keep running different scenarios … and seeing where the [Select] Board and the Warrant Committee wants to go.”

Warrant Committee member Ellen Schrieber noted that losses in fees and other revenue in the current year will likely damped estimates of the number of reserves – mostly from the town’s free cash account – which was expected to be passed forward into fiscal ’21 to fund gaps in the budget.

Garvin agreed, saying free cash “is where we’re going to get the hit next year.”

Hiring Freeze, Layoffs Possible

While the budget outlook is far from clear, the town is already formulating “initiatives” to begin filling the gulf of red ink facing the town. The likely first step will be a “thoughtful” hiring freeze, according to Caputo, as well as keeping a cap on overtime payments with the exception of public safety and a possible town-wide spending freeze with only “the most critical and essential items.” according to Garvin.

One significant area the town and Select Board are “brainstorming” to reduce expenses is looking hard at salaries which is the “primary” expenditure in the budget, said Caputo.

Warrant Committee member Geoffrey Lubien breached the topic of possibly furloughing town employees, noting that while not ideal, it would allow those individuals to secure unemployment benefits.

Garvin said that such conversations are occurring with the Belmont town counsel as nearly all the employees are union-represented and there needs to “decipher” the difference between a furlough and a layoff.

Lubien did followup saying reducing the workforce should be a last resort since “to let people go and then try to get them back is very difficult.”

One area of town that was only briefly touched but which looms large in town finances was schools. Yet Warrant Committee member Chris Doyle was blunt on her view that significant savings should come from the district that she believes isn’t functioning at full capacity with the schools closed and students being taught remotely.

“There is zero chance that teachers are spending anywhere close” to the same time they were in school “and it makes me want to be very encouraging for a broad furlough in the school department,” said Doyle.

Mike Crowley, the school committee representative to the Warrant Committee, felt layoffs “isn’t going to help the kids” during a difficult and at times problematic transition from educating students in a classroom setting to one at home in front of a computer.

The town is also discussing the possibility of using a provision in Gov. Charlie Baker’s Declaration of Emergency which allows municipalities to run a budget deficit due to “natural disasters on direct coronavirus expenses” The law gives a city or town breathing room to recover from a calamity by allowing the deficit to be paid off over the subsequent three fiscal years.

But for now, Garvin will be meeting with department heads and the school district to discuss where cuts can be made in an already lean program while waiting for more information from the state and town.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and we’re just kind of moving along, keeping our eyes on what we think is going to be most impacted and go from there,” said Garvin. “I could put something together for today and a month [from now] it could be completely different.”

Belmont Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In Double Digits, But More Likely Unreported

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Photo: Wesley Chin, Belmont Health Department director during the Select Board’s video conference.

Belmont is not being spared by the COVID-19 pandemic as the number of residents the state has confirmed “positive” has risen to 10, according to Wesley Chin, Health Department director, speaking before the Select Board via video conference on Thursday, March 26.

But the cases in Belmont are those reported by the state’s Department of Public Health and likely don’t indicated the actual number of individuals who have the virus, according to Chin.

Read the latest update from the Town of Belmont on all things COVID-19.

Belmont’s underreporting is not unusual as many people remain asymptomatic – showing no signs of illness – or have very mild “common cold” symptoms in addition to a shortage of testing kits that pushes down the actual number of positive samples.

And while just two weeks ago all the cases in Belmont were linked to a late-February Biogen sales meeting at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel in Boston, now the source is more insidious.

“Out of our [10] positives, I can share that four are related to Biogen. The rest are related to workplace exposures in health care institutions and just community spread,” said Chin.

As of March 27, Belmont has 10 cases with 20 individuals currently undergoing monitoring or are under quarantine. Twenty-four have completed monitoring and are no longer in quarantine.

Here’s Your List Of Belmont Eateries Open For Business

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Photo: The menu is ready for your order!

If there was ever a time to be a patron of Belmont’s restaurants, cafes, pizzerias, and takeout places, now is that time. With the COVID-19 pandemic halting sit-down eating, the town’s eateries can now only provide takeout service to their customers at a significant financial hit.

Thanks to Bonnie Friedman and Belmonthelps.org who created the Belmont Covid-19 Resource list, Belmont residents now have an updated list of restaurants and eateries that are still open and their hours.

“Please support them, if you can,” said Bonnie.

And an honorary Belmont restaurant

  • Conley’s Pub & Grille, https://conleyspub.com, 617-393-0237, open for take-out, noon to 9, 164 Belmont Street, Watertown

School’s Meal Drive-Thru On Wed., March 25, 7:30 AM To 10:30 AM [VIDEO]

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Photo: Dustin O’Brien, director of nutrition.

The Belmont School District will conduct a Meal Drive-Thru for students who are part of the free and reduced meal on Wednesday, March 25 from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Belmont High School, 221 Concord Ave.

“We want to emphasize this is a drive-thru service and advise families to stay in cars,” said Dustin O’Brien, director of food services.

“We’ll load goods into trunk/backseat and they’ll be no person to person contact. Each meal kit will include multiple days of breakfast and lunch items,” he said.

Town Election Delayed, Town Meeting Tentative Start On May 29 – Budgets Only

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Photo:

Town elections are “funny little animals,” said Ellen Cushman, Belmont Town Clerk addressing the Select Board last week.

While the ballot is specific to the municipality, they can’t be delayed, postponed or changed by local action. Altering the date, for instance, can only be done through a “higher power,” either going before a judge for a court ruling or via a special act of the legislature up on Beacon Hill.

Asking to tinker with a town’s election dates is a fairly rare request, but circumstances around the world had forced Belmont’s and other communities hands on the matter.

With the advancing coronavirus pandemic forcing the cancellation of gatherings of more than a handful of people, it became clear holding the election on the traditional first Tuesday in April was all but impossible.

It was for that reason the Select Board voted to approve – better known as “calling” – the annual Town Election for April 7 just so it could then start the process of postponing it.

After the Select Board’s unanimous vote, the town prepared plans on what avenue to pursue to change the election date; through the courts as Wellesley had recently done or via legislation. Turns out that neither was needed as just days after the Board’s vote, state legislators stepped in with a universal fix.

As pressure from municipalities requesting delays and postponements began to swamp Beacon Hill, the Massachusetts House and Senate on Monday, March 23, passed legislation, S.2608, allowing municipalities to postpone 2020 local elections while the Commonwealth is in a state of emergency.

Under the legislation, the Select Board will be able to postpone to a date on or before June 30.

“I’m informed that the House and Senate passed the bill this afternoon and it is anticipated that the Governor [Charlie Baker] will sign it,” Cushman said.

The next question is when will the election take place? Belmont will find out on Thursday, March 26 when the Select Board meets to make the postponement official and sets the new date.

The pandemic has also impacted the 161st annual Town Meeting as the Board along with Town Administrator Patrice Garvin and Town Moderator Mike Widmer decided to move the first day of the annual Town Meeting from late April to May 29, which was already scheduled to be the start of the meeting’s Segment B which focuses on financial articles.

And that meeting will be limited to budgets and fiscal matters, measures vital “to keep the lights on,” according to Garvin.

The non-budgetary articles which were to highlight the April meeting including important topics as imposing a fee for paper bags, restricting gas hookups in new buildings, a lease agreement for the new ice skating rink and zoning changes to facilitate residential development at the McLean property will be delayed to a date yet known.

Garvin said it would be likely those measures will be taken up during a special Town Meeting during the summer.