The Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) will start the school year in mid-September, and parents will have to choose by August 10 whether to keep their children home for fully remote learning or send them to school five days a week.

In a June 25 memo, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) told Massachusetts school districts to make plans for “start[ing] the school year with as many of our students as possible returning to in-person settings—safely” but also told districts to plan for fully remote instruction or a hybrid model where students have some days at school and some online instruction at home. 

Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall announced the district’s decision in a July 23 email to families, and she and other members of the LPS Education 2021 Task Force presented details via family forums on Zoom on July 29 and 30 (faculty/staff forums were also held on those days). The forum PowerPoint presentation, as well as links to previous emails from McFall to families, can be seen on this LPS website. The presentation can also be viewed and downloaded from this link.

Lincoln’s school buildings (including the portables on the ballfield) have enough space to bring most students back to school full-time, even with social distancing and teaching student “cohorts” of 11-15, McFall said during the July 29 family forum. Other school districts without enough room are offering online-only or hybrid instruction. If at all possible, “it’s really important and valuable for students to have the opportunity to be with their peers and taught in person,” she said.

The School Committee is scheduled to review and vote on the final plan on August 6 after a review by DESE. Families will be asked starting the same day to commit to either in-person or remote instruction for the school year. There will be more family and faculty/staff forums on August 7, and family decisions are due no later than August 10. 

Survey results

In a survey whose results McFall reported in her July 26 email, 53% of families said their first choice was fully in-person learning with safety protocols and 20% said fully remote learning. A slightly larger proportion (25%) preferred one of several hybrid options. The remaining 2% said they planned to withdraw their child from school and opt for private school or home schooling.

When faculty and staff were asked about their preferences, a slight majority (40% vs. 38%) said their first choice was fully in-person rather than fully remote learning, with 21% specifying one of the hybrid models as their first choice.

After the school administration gets the final count from families of how many children choose each of the two options, they will release more detailed plans about student groupings, teacher assignments, and day-to-day school operations.

If Covid-19 cases starting rising in the fall, the school will be ready to make a “quick, seamless transition to all-remote [learning] at the cohort, school, or district level,” McFall said. State officials are discussing infection thresholds for closing schools, “and we’re hoping for guidance for all districts,” McFall said. 

The DESE has reduced the number of required school days from 180 to 170 to allow more time for faculty to prepare their teaching plans. As a result, school will not begin in Lincoln until September 16. School will start each day at 8 a.m. but will end at 1:45 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (Wednesday will still end at 12:35 p.m.) to meet contractual requirements for teachers. The new teaching model with smaller cohorts means that teachers will be working at the same time with no breaks and will continue to work after dismissal until 3 p.m. The extra student-free time in the afternoon will also allow for more intensive cleaning.

Among the many safety protocols McFall outlined:

• All preK-8 students and employees except those with disabilities or medical conditions must wear masks all day in school. They must supply their own masks, though the schools will have extras on hand if needed. Students will get two outdoor “mask breaks” per day while still maintaining six-foot social distancing.
• must check their child’s temperature each morning before school and may not send any children who have a fever or symptoms of illness to school. Faculty and staff must also take their own temperatures each morning.
• Hand-washing and physical-distancing protocols will be in place, and high-touch surfaces will be sanitized multiple times a day.
• must provide written authorization for administering acetaminophen or ibuprofen to their child at school if necessary. Per CDC guidelines, flu shots are highly recommended for everyone once they become available.
• Fans will not be used in school to prevent the spread of airborne germ droplets. All classrooms except those in the new Hanscom Middle School have operable windows, and screening will be used to reduce sun glare. The later start to the school year should also mean that the worst of the summer heat has passed. 
• Two 3,800-square-foot tents will be used while weather permits to allow for outdoor learning.
• There will be assigned seating on school buses with one child per bench seat except for those who live together. Drivers and monitors will wear masks, and buses will load from back to front. Bus windows will be half-open at all times except in extreme weather. The schools expect there will be enough buses for everyone in Lincoln, though some routes may be adjusted, and they will add a third Boston bus.
• The buildings’ air-intake filters will be upgraded. 

School officials took some questions after the family forum presentations, but they will take more at the August 7 forums and also invite parents to submit questions ahead of time.