Manchester school leaders take re-opening questions from parents

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The entire world has transformed into one big video conference of some kind…

MANCHESTER, N.H. – With the Manchester Board of School Committee (BOSC) will making a final determination on Aug. 10 on remote or hybrid learning styles, Manchester School District officials held a Facebook Live event on Monday night to answer parental questions about the upcoming school year.

The event will be available on demand on the district’s Facebook page, here’s a recap of some of the answers provided at the event.

Will a remote learning option be provided? – Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. John Goldhardt said that parents will be given that choice if they want it.

What about parents who cannot work from home if there is no in-person instruction? – Goldhardt said here as well, the district would attempt to make accommodations.

What is a “deep cleaning?” – In the presentation given to the BOSC by Goldhardt in July, the hybrid in-person/remote learning model left Wednesdays as days for the schools to be cleaned thoroughly without any children in them. Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Gillis said the district is working with Aramark for best practices and options on how to proceed with this along with ongoing cleaning during school days.

Who would monitor mask wearing/hand washing/social distancing in schools? – This duty is held by educators, administrators and other staff, with Goldhardt seeing it as a learning opportunity for proper hygiene. He also believes most Manchester students will rise up to meet expectations set for them.

Will teachers be required to teach a certain number of remote classes per week? – There is an effort to acclimate students toward equating remote classes with in-person classes and the same goes for teachers in terms of responsibilities.

What about band/chorus/physical education/other “special” classes? – Social distancing will take place here, and physical education taking place outside whenever possible.  Likewise, recess will take place outside whenever possible.

Multiple siblings and the hybrid model – The district seeks to be flexible regarding multiple siblings and the hybrid model since they’ve gotten requests from parents that their multiple children be placed together as well as requests that their remote learning is staggered throughout the week.

Will there be mandatory COVID-19 testing? – No, but it will be recommended, as will handwashing. Temperatures and questions on cold symptoms will be asked and an increased awareness of face touching and door touching will be made.

Can students bring water bottles to their desk? – More information on this will be discussed on Aug. 10 with the BOSC.

Will sports be played? – This is a decision for the BOSC on Aug. 10, and tryouts will begin in early September if they say yes. However, parents will have to transport their children to games and there may be fewer weekday games and no “long-distance” road games.

Will textbooks be used? – Yes, but they won’t be shared.

Can students be in school five days a week? – Not at first, but that could become an option as the year progresses depending on the progress of the pandemic.

Remote learning options for poor families – The district is aiming to get a chromebook in the hands of every single student and is also working with Aruba Networks to provide hotspots across the city for families without internet access.

What about other questions? – An event just for parents of special needs students will take place on Friday at 10 a.m. at bit.ly/MSDlisteningsession. Parents can also e-mail Communications@mansd.org for more information.

You can watch the session below:

About this Author

Andrew Sylvia

Assistant EditorManchester Ink Link

Born and raised in the Granite State, Andrew Sylvia has written approximately 10,000 pieces over his career for outlets across Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. On top of that, he's a licensed notary and licensed to sell property, casualty and life insurance, he's been a USSF trained youth soccer and futsal referee for the past six years and he can name over 60 national flags in under 60 seconds according to that flag game app he has on his phone, which makes sense because he also has a bachelor's degree in geography (like Michael Jordan). He can also type over 100 words a minute on a good day.