Remote learning will continue through the end of the school year, Gov. Chris Sununu announced in a press conference Thursday.
“That’s what we’re going to do, continue remote learning through the end of the year,” Sununu said.
“The staff has been preparing for the possibility of this decision for some time,” ConVal superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders wrote in an email to the community immediately before the Governor’s press conference. “We are prepared to continue Remote Learning and will continue to discuss and examine innovative ways to maintain educational services and nutritional services, as well as celebrating milestones.”
In-person schooling couldn’t resume while maintaining physical distancing recommendations or mitigating the asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19, Sununu said, an aspect of the virus the administration is increasingly paying attention to. “An entire class could pass it back and forth…without a sniffle,” he said, and that his administration would not risk the potential for a surge in cases where students brought the virus back to their parents and grandparents.
It’s still up to school districts to set the last day of the school year, Sununu said, which will vary depending on whether or not they canceled April vacation. ConVal and Mason school districts have opted to work through April vacation, Jaffrey-Rindge will work Monday through Wednesday of vacation week, and the Mascenic School Board will vote on what to do about the vacation on Tuesday, Superintendent Chris Martin said.
“While we know that this announcement does not come as a shock, we also recognize that for many this comes as a disappointment for our students,” Rizzo Saunders said.
Mason Elementary School announced that the last day for students would be May 29, which aligns with the last day at Milford High School, which is attended by Mason high-schoolers.
Sununu also recognized New Hampshire’s Class of 2020. “Graduation is not going to look for them like it did for friends… who came before them,” he said. Martin said a main focus following the announcement is to figure out how to accommodate end-of-year milestone ceremonies, particularly for students who are moving up to a new school or graduating.
“It’s been tough on a lot of parents, and we understand that,” Sununu said, citing his own experience with children in first, eighth and ninth grades learning from home.
The state is still working out how to minimize gaps in education when school resumes in September, he said. The administration is encouraging school districts to adopt pass/fail systems to increase flexibility, discourage students being unnecessarily held back, or damaging their GPAs, Sununu said. He said he’s looking into expanding summer learning programs, and is “not against” a statewide assessment to determine gaps in students’ knowledge base after three months of remote learning. Mascenic has adopted a pass/fail system, Martin said, and Wilton-Lyndeborough adopted it for the middle school but not the high school, superintendent Bryan Lane said.
Sununu said the decision does not directly impact the SAT and PSAT schedule but wasn’t sure what would happen with those tests.