NORTH SMITHFIELD – In a unanimous vote Wednesday night, members of the North Smithfield School Committee agreed that while they want more students back in school, the district is not quite ready for a full return, and focus should remain on the youngest students.
Starting next week, kindergarteners in North Smithfield will receive in-school instruction four days a week. The following week, first grade students will have the same option.
The decision follows a difficult week at North Smithfield Elementary School, where a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
“I will not lie to you and say that this is not stressful or frightening,” said Supt. Michael St. Jean during a virtual meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 30. “We got hit with some reality yesterday.”
Preschool classrooms at the school will be shut down for two weeks to limit any additional potential student exposure, and St. Jean noted that eight faculty members are now under quarantine. The superintendent became emotional discussing the plight of the dedicated teachers, noting that one staff member at NSES is a cancer survivor, and another is eight months pregnant.
“Our teachers are here,” St. Jean said. “They didn’t resign, retire, take leaves.”
St. Jean noted that while many have compared the teachers’ role to that of the grocery store clerks who have worked through the pandemic, the amount of time spent close to someone with the virus has been proven to increase the possibility of transmission.
“Our teachers are with their kids, and they’re close,” he said.
NSES Principal Jennifer Daignault echoed his gratitude.
“This is not what any of us signed up for,” Daignault said. “This is just a whole new world for us.”
Still, she added, “We don’t believe in putting little people in front of Chrome books for eight hours a day.”
In terms of development, St. Jean noted, “Our little ones – they really need to be in with the teachers.”
Students in all grades in North Smithfield have followed a hybrid model since the schools officially opened their doors to students September 15, with all whose names start with the letters A through L attending in-person on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and M through Z on Thursdays and Fridays.
And while the goal, St. Jean said, is to return to full in-person instruction, he recommended a phased-in and cautious approach.
“We do want our kids back, but we’re also very cognizant of the spread of infection,” he said.
More than 300 parents and educators attended the virtual School Committee meeting, with the many noting that they’ve been happy with the hybrid model.
Others questioned if there was a timeline for full return, and if officials were being overly cautious.
School Committee member Jean Meo said that she received several copies of a letter signed by parents that threatened litigation if schools were not reopened by the stated timeline. Gov. Gina Raimondo initially said that all schools should be fully operational by Tuesday, Oct. 13.
But St. Jean said that the plan was, “actually somewhat miscommunicated,” and based on each district’s individual plans.
“We needed time with the children to get them acclimated to the new processes and protocols,” he said of the gradual approach.
Concerns, he noted, remain in the areas of transportation and lunches.
“The majority of cases happening throughout the country are related to eating in restaurants,” St. Jean said. “The cafeteria is basically a densely packed restaurant.”
There will be no changes for students that opted for distance learning, who will continue to receive the same instruction virtually from home.
Meo noted that the letter sent repeatedly to members of the committee this week was actually copied from a blog.
“There’s no way everyone will be satisfied with our decisions,” Meo said. “We’re not ready for full in-person.”
“It’s already touched one school, and it’s real now.”
Statewide, the superintendent noted, the focus is on students in grades k through 5, in part so that parents can return to work.
NSES nurse Salpi O’Neill noted that if students show two or more symptoms of COVID-19, the school must follow the Rhode Island Department of Health playbook and get them tested through the portal, and the entire family is quarantined. Contact for anyone with someone who tests positive means a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Despite fears, administrators and parents expressed a sense of both community, and gratitude for a system that’s been running relatively smoothly under difficult circumstances.
“North Smithfield is actually in a very good spot,” St. Jean said. “We’ve done everything right.”
