The kids are everything

Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani’s first two months as the new leader of the Everett Public Schools have been an extraordinary time to take over.

Talk about being thrown into the frying pan!

Who could have imagined such a combination of crises to be handled during such a short period when she is just getting underway?

We believe we speak with authority when we write this is a seminal moment in the life and times of the Everett Public Schools and the way children are going to be taught in the future when the virus has been crushed and things get back to normal.

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The numbers are surging

In the City of Everett, the numbers of those reported to have been infected by the Coronavirus epidemic are rising dramatically every day.

Figures reveal a steady incline that has not yet ended rising, which means a line on a graph shows an upward spike which has not yet reached its apex.

This is expected near to the end of April or at the beginning of May.

Both the city’s health department and the State Department of Public Health issue new figures nearly every day which reveal that as of Wednesday of this week, more than 400 Everett residents are infected with at least two to three deaths as a result of the virus, with the numbers of infected going up rather dramatically.

During the second week of March when everything closed down, only a handful of Everett residents were reported as infected.

Last week, the total rose some days by 30 to 40, each day. Those types of numbers are continuing unabated this week. This means that the virus has not yet run its course here – not even close.

Official numbers are deceiving.

Much of the population here remains untested.

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MCAS waiver in new bill for this school year

DiDomenico, McGonagle support bill that modifies graduation requirements due to virus disruptions

Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representative Joseph McGonagle recently announced that the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives passed legislation to support those experiencing homelessness and provide testing and budgetary flexibility to school districts. The bill, which is the lat- est action by the Legislature to address the COVID-19 public health crisis and its effects on Massachusetts, has now been signed into law by Governor Baker.

“This legislation is the latest step from my colleagues and I in the Legislature to provide much needed relief to our Commonwealth’s families and most vulnerable residents,” said Senator Sal DiDomenico. “I am particularly pleased to report that this bill includes a MCAS waiver for the current academic year. Our students and educators are facing enough stress and educational disruptions due to COVID-19 without the added pressure of having to prepare for the MCAS. This was absolutely the right course of action during this unprecedented time, and I was proud to support this change for our students.”

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Week Four in the era of coronavirus

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Gravediggers wearing face masks at Woodlawn Cemetery pause from their duties. (Photo by Josh Resnek)

By Josh Resnek

The world turned upside down by the spread of the Coronavirus touches nearly every aspect of our lives.

Nowhere is this more apparent than at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Funerals as we have known them at all times during our lives have been reduced to private affairs with no more than ten people allowed at interments.

A Tuesday morning tour of the cemetery revealed the fully bloomed Cherry Blossoms on rows of trees and colorful floral bouquets placed on hundreds of grave sites in honor of the traditional weekend Easter celebration, which was also subdued.

Gravediggers filling in a gravesite all wore protective masks and clothing.

Many individual visitors coming to the cemetery to pay their respects in the early morning are wearing masks, and for the most part, stand alone, reciting private prayers in front of granite gravestones or the brass markers which line the rows where the dead rest at Woodlawn.

Woodlawn Cemetery presents a somber but beautiful reality, even during this time of the virus.

Throughout the city, not much has appreciably changed since last week. In this week, the fourth in the age of the coronavirus, the social distancing policies enacted by the city since March 15 appear to be holding firm.

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Mayor not doing enough to help

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Karina Sousa, of Helenquan Florist on Ferry Street, shows off handmade face
masks she exchanged for food donations during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

“The city is not offering anything,” Adrien says

By Josh Resnek

Shutting down the city. Calling an early emergency.

“These were a must. As this crisis continues, we need to act for our residents and our businesspeople,” Councilor at Large Gerly Adrien told the Leader Herald.

“The city needs to be doing more to protect those cannot pay their mortgages. The city should protect rent payers who cannot pay for their apartments because they’ve become unemployed,” she added.

“Without mortgage and rent relief like Mayor Curtatone has instituted in Somerville, without small business relief, Everett faces a Coronavirus catastrophe,” she said.

Everett has not yet announced such moratoriums on paying rent and mortgages.

This has been done by Mayor Marty Walsh in Boston.

Everett is not offering aid in applying for unemployment and SBA loans as is being done in Somerville and other cities.

“When you compare the resources being offered by the mayor in Everett, they pale in comparison to other cities like ours,” she added.

“People need help here very badly.The mayor isn’t offering any help beyond enforcing social distancing. Everett can and must do better,” she said.

City Council President Rosa DiFlorio told the Leader she is growing concerned about the next budget.

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