CITY OF NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS

Office of the Mayor

Thomas W. Bernard

Testimony to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

on Supporting a Return to In-person Instruction
Friday, March 5, 2021

Ms. Katherine Craven, Chair

Mr. James Morton, Vice Chair
Members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
Jeffrey C. Riley, Commissioner

Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony about the agenda item regarding Supporting a
Return to In-person Instruction.

As a mayor and school committee chair I share your concern about the toll the COVID-19
pandemic and our response over the past year has taken on our students, educators, and
communities. This shared concern informs our common goal – to bring as many students as
possible back into our schools for in-person learning as quickly and safely as possible, while
preserving the right of parents and guardians to elect remote learning for the remainder of this
school year.

We share this common goal, however I have deep concerns about the proposed approach to
meeting that goal. I especially am concerned about the seemingly punitive enforcement measures
under consideration by DESE.

By way of background, I have served as mayor of the City of North Adams since January 1,
2018. For those unfamiliar with the city I have the privilege to serve, we are located in the
northwest corner of Berkshire County. Along with Pittsfield, North Adams is one of the two
cities in the Commonwealth’s westernmost county. The K-12 North Adams Public Schools
district currently serves 1,293 students.

A dynamic post-industrial city, North Adams is home to the Massachusetts College of Liberal
Arts (MCLA), a campus of the Massachusetts State University System, and the
Commonwealth’s designated public liberal arts college; and the Massachusetts Museum of
Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), the largest contemporary art museum in the United States,
and the cornerstone of cultural tourism and the creative economy in the city and the Northern
Berkshire region. This is to say nothing of the stunning natural beauty and outdoor recreation
opportunities that surround and abound in our city, to the delight of residents and visitors alike.

10 Main Street • North Adams, Massachusetts 01247

mayorbernard@northadams-ma.gov • (413) 662-3000
I am proud of the fact that I was born and raised in the City of North Adams, attended the North
Adams Public Schools, and graduated from Drury High School in North Adams. Beyond that,
my path to public service was in large part inspired by the example of my parents, each of whom
served for over 35 years as an educator in the North Adams Public Schools.

Like each of you, and like municipal leaders, school committee members, superintendents and
district leaders, educators and school staff, parents, caregivers, and most importantly the students
we all are entrusted to serve, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the centerpiece
of my work for over a year.

My team held a deep discussion at our late February 2020 staff meeting about what the
coronavirus, that came to be known as COVID-19, could mean for North Adams – and
especially the North Adams Public Schools – and how we would respond.

On Friday, March 13, 2020, the North Adams superintendent and I announced we would be
closing the North Adams Public Schools for two weeks, a move we made in lockstep with school
districts across Berkshire County, and ahead of the Governor’s statewide school closure Order,
issued Sunday, March 15.

When we made the decision to close schools, few of us could have imagined that was the end of
in-person learning for the school year. From the start, I insisted on two things. First, that no
student go hungry. Since our initial school closure, the school district’s food services team has
served over 200,000 meals, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and both weekday and
weekend grab and go meals. Second, that we provide students with the tools they need to have
equitable access to online learning and to stay connected to their classmates and teachers. Since
March the school district IT team has invested in technology and distributed over 1,200 devices,
including laptops, Chromebooks, and iPads, and more than 130 hot spot devices to ensure
internet connectivity.

The school district leadership team provided thousands of staff hours of professional
development on topics related to online learning, social-emotional support, curriculum and
instruction, and pandemic response. They also provided opportunities for parent, family, and
caregiver engagement to make sure that remote and hybrid learning happens as smoothly as
possible.

The school committee, as a public body and working through our designated subcommittees, has
reviewed learning plans, questioned assumptions, responded to educator, community, and
student concerns, and tried to navigate and resolve the contradictions in public health data and
evolving guidelines. Through this work our efforts have been student-centric, data driven, public
health conscious, collaborative, and aligned with DESE guidance, even when it has at times
seemed the message coming from the department has been “We expect you to figure out how to
follow these guidelines…but you’re doing it wrong.”

Despite these occasional frustrations we have worked to align Board and Department guidance
with the leadership responsibilities that come with local control, and the unique contexts of our
districts and facilities.

Mayor Tom Bernard testimony to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, March 5, 2021 2
We have bargained in good faith about working conditions across all potential learning models.
We’ve all become practiced in the jargon, if not the technical realities, of air handling systems.
We have pivoted from hybrid to remote learning, and back again, based on conditions in our
school buildings and in our community, including an extended period of remote-only learning
brought about by holiday surge data.

Throughout this year we have watched our students struggle. We know that in-person, in-
classroom learning works best for a plurality of students. We know they miss their classmates
and friends, that they miss their teachers. We know they miss the routine and structure of classes
and extracurricular activities. We know that online learning – and the creativity and innovation
of our educators – have helped immensely, but we also know that for too many of our students
who struggle with learning, this year has widened gaps and deepened inequities.

We need to get our students and educators back to school as quickly and as safely as possible.
We share that commitment, and public health data trends are positive and encouraging. However,
we also need to agree and understand that local context, local control, and local relationships are
essential elements to achieving that shared commitment.

We all understand that research shows schools have not been large vectors of community spread
of COVID-19, mainly because of the consistent implementation of mitigation strategies. Our
student body and staff in the North Adams Public Schools, and in districts across Massachusetts,
have been closely adhering to the safety protocols including mask wearing, hand washing, and
physical distancing, along with the district mitigation strategy to limit classroom capacities
through the hybrid model.

The opportunity for the North Adams Public Schools to participate in the Commonwealth’s
pooled testing program also has enabled greater confidence in returning to and remaining in the
hybrid learning model following an extended period in the remote model based on local public
health data, in many cases including data outside of school control. Pooled testing enhances the
opportunity for continuity of learning, something our students need desperately for socialization
as well as to support their emotional health. I want to thank Commissioner Riley and the team at
DESE for extending the opportunity for the North Adams Public Schools to participate in the
Commonwealth’s pooled testing program, and for extending the period of funding support for
the program into April. It has been a game changer for us.

While the vaccine rollout has begun across Massachusetts – and while the Governor recently has
re-prioritized school employees for vaccine eligibility – COVID-19 is still with us. Demand and
eligibility for the vaccine outstrips our supply in every corner of the Commonwealth, the risk of
COVID-19 infection and spread will remain with us for the foreseeable future. Indeed, this week
a positive COVID-19 case in one of our schools led to the temporary transition of two grades
from hybrid to remote learning. Such cases will continue to occur, and we need the ability and
flexibility to respond as conditions change.

Mayor Tom Bernard testimony to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, March 5, 2021 3
Many of our educators are eager to receive the vaccine. Our regional Berkshire Vaccine
Collaborative is ready to work with schools and districts to schedule appointments and designate
vaccination days for educators and school staff. We have the infrastructure and the capacity to
vaccinate our education professionals effectively and quickly, but again we face the same supply
constraints and scheduling frustrations as communities across the Commonwealth.

I’m deeply concerned that these conditions create significant barriers to meeting the Governor’s
and the Commissioner’s stated goal of enforcing a return to fully in-person learning by early
April.

Additionally, the proposed amendment under consideration by the Board (The authorities
granted in 603 CMR 27.08 shall remain in effect until the Board determines that students can
attend classes in a safe environment without additional health and safety measures) may create
an unrealistic, dangerous, and unachievable timeline for the North Adams Public Schools, and
for districts across Massachusetts.

Finally, the rumored enforcement measures that would render asynchronous learning time
ineligible for time on learning consideration – along with the suggestion that any school days
deemed ineligible by DESE under the proposed approach would come with Chapter 70
allocation penalties – would create a fiscal crisis for the North Adams Public Schools and for
other low-income districts. Moreover, I know that my colleagues in North Adams and across the
Commonwealth will resist any approach that seeks to coerce local and school district leaders into
compliance by threatening the funding that serves our students and helps to guarantee their
health and wellbeing in the face of an ongoing public health crisis.

While we approach our work from different perspectives we share the same goal – to serve the
young people in our schools and districts safely and equitably. We can’t meet that goal by
imposing artificial timelines and punitive strategies. We have to allow time for collaboration, and
consideration of local conditions for success. Otherwise the result will be time lost and trust
eroded. And it will be our students who pay the price, as we all say in full sincerity that we’re
acting in their best interest.

Accordingly, I respectfully ask the board to reject the proposed amendment and leave in place all
the authorities granted in 603 CMR 27.08 throughout the balance of the 2020-2021 school year.
We will continue to be data driven, public health conscious, collaborative, and aligned with
DESE guidance while ensuring consistent implementation of mitigation strategies and all
appropriate health and safety measures. I believe this is the best pathway to meet the goal of
returning to in-person learning as quickly and safely as we can, without the constraint and
pressure of a potentially unachievable deadline.

I know that mayors, school committee members, educators, parents and guardians, and
community members stand ready to work with you – collaboratively and constructively – to
serve all our students. Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can provide additional
information that would be helpful to your deliberations on Supporting a Return to In-person
Instruction.

Mayor Tom Bernard testimony to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, March 5, 2021 4