With city still in the Red Zone no in-person teaching allowed as Coronavirus surges
By JOSH RESNEK
Due to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases in the city and throughout the state, Everett’s public schools will not be reopening with a hybrid program mixing in-person teaching with remote instruction.
“The incidence of COVID rates rising dangerously is not conducive to reopening schools to in-person instruction,” Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani told the School Committee.
The EPS had been set for a reopening of the schools for a mix of in-person instruction and remote instruction on November 16.
“All the signs point to a steady rise in the number of cases and particularly over the past month,” she added.
“We are squarely in the Red Zone and state recommendations do not allow for in person teaching. We will follow those recommendations closely,” she said.
Red Zone cities are among the most dangerous for the spread of the virus. October’s stats are now at the level of May’s. November’s stats are expected to be a disaster.
“Everett has the tenth highest occurrence of new cases every day,” she said.
Chelsea and Revere are Red Zone cities.
The learning centers that have been set up will remain open with strictly enforced social distancing and mandatory face mask requirements.
The EPS COVID Taskforce reporting to Tahiliani is recommending extreme caution.
Transmission is increasing. The positivity rate is very high, according to the Department of Public Health.
“We’ve made tremendous gains. We have a diligent staff. There are more challenges ahead. We are doing everything we can to make tomorrow better than today,” Tahiliani told the School Committee Monday night.