Dear Students, Families, and Staff Members,
Each Thursday evening the Department of Public Health releases the city/town and Berkshire County data updates for the previous 14 day period. This data is reviewed for benchmark thresholds by our school district leadership, members of the North Adams Public Schools Safety Committee, and teacher leaders representing the North Adams Teachers’ Association.
As per the September 2020 Memorandum of Agreement between the North Adams Public Schools and the North Adams Teachers’ Association, the three benchmarks that we use to determine if there is community spread that warrants moving to remote learning include:
- 3% positivity rate for the City of North Adams: Current rate is 1.65%.
- 3% average positivity rate for 15 collective towns and cities that represent locations where staff or students who enter North Adams Public Schools reside: Current rate is 3.66%.
- Positive cases associated with students or staff members attending North Adams Public Schools: Currently have 0 cases.
The 3.66% positivity rate for the 15 collective towns has triggered the transition to remote learning as of Monday, December 14, 2020.
Please note the learning schedule for December 14, 2020 through January 19, 2021:
Monday, December 14, 2020 through Tuesday, December 22, 2020: Remote Learning (per collective towns’ COVID-19 positivity rates)
Wednesday December 23, 2020 through January 1, 2021: No school due to December recess (per school calendar)
Monday, January 4, 2021 through Friday, January 15, 2020: Remote Learning (per School Committee approval on December 9, 2020)
Monday, January 18, 2021: No school due to Martin Luther King Day holiday (per school calendar)
Tuesday, January 19, 2021: Return to hybrid learning schedule (AARBB)
Alarmingly, the World Health Organization indicates that health care facilities can become overwhelmed with providing care for those with more serious symptoms associated with COVID-19 at a 5% positivity rate: Current positivity rate for Berkshire County is 4.52%.
COVID-19 Testing
Rapid PCR testing is available for patients of Northern Berkshire Pediatrics. Their office is able to provide testing for their patients who have any symptoms that could possibly be due to COVID. The test result is available in 15 minutes and the practice is available to see these patients 7 days a week. The rapid test is not sensitive enough for people without symptoms. Patients who were exposed to a COVID positive patient but who are asymptomatic, may schedule an appointment to be seen and have a test performed to be sent to BMC or may be directed to an alternate testing site.
Increased availability and faster turnaround times for results are available through BMC: the North Adams testing site is open 7 days a week from 8:30-4:00 by appointment (call 855-BMC-LINK) and the tests are now being sent to the Broad Institute which has a slightly greater than 24 hours turnaround time.
Looking forward
It has been a long time since March 13, 2020, when North Adams Public Schools first joined the districts of Berkshire County in an emergency shutdown of the schools in response to the community spread of the coronavirus. We have had many lessons learned in launching a remote learning platform, providing access to technology, and ensuring students receive both teacher directed instruction (synchronous instruction) and independent learning opportunities (asynchronous instruction) remotely. We have also learned a lot about the public health recommendations and data to assist in making informed decisions about offering safe in-person learning through the hybrid model and when we had evidence of community spread. With the hope provided by the recent approval of the vaccination for COVID-19 by the FDA, we are also learning a lot about what it will take to have all of our students return to school for full in-person instruction.
This is once again a time in our country, our state, and our city where we need to take this very seriously. We must once again rally to flatten the curve as the pandemic surge continues to create anxiety, heartache, and loss. Until the vaccine can be widely disseminated across a broad segment of the population that is eligible to receive it, we can do our part to prevent the spread of this disease in our community.
Please follow the recommendations advocated for by our health care providers: wear a mask in all public spaces; maintain physical distancing; elect to not attend gatherings; do not travel without a plan for testing and self-isolation; and practice and reinforce good personal hygiene.
Barbara Malkas
Superintendent