By CHRIS COLLINS
(Photo courtesy of Amy Proietti)
(Greenfield, MA) — Greenfield school students will likely be learning remotely again this coming fall, at least in part.
That was the message Greenfield School Superintendent Jordana B. Harper brought to city councilors Wednesday night, and community leaders work to hammer out a financial game plan in the wake of the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic.
“It’s tough to come forward with a plan when we’ve received little to no guidance from the state,” Harper said. “At this point, given the information we have, it’s likely we’ll have to employ some portion of remote learning this fall.”
Not only are reopening guidelines not in place, Harper said the department’s budget remains in flux and will until the Legislature passes a fiscal 2021 budget and Greenfield knows exactly how much state Chapter 70 education aid it can expect to receive. That will determine how many, if any, of the 43 staff members and teachers set to be laid off this summer will be able to be brought back–which Harper said could very well be a determining factor as to whether all students will be able to come back to the classroom in September.
“These are good people and we need them to be here to serve our students,” Harper said. “It’s a serious reduction, and will make it that much more difficult (to reopen).”