Superintendent Boyd sent the following update on the status of in-person learning to the LPS community. The letter is posted here and can be found below.
The letter has also been translated in the following languages: Arabic | Khmer | Lao | Portuguese | Spanish | Swahili | Vietnamese
February 5, 2021
Dear Lowell Public Schools Students, Families and Staff,
I hope this letter finds you safe and well. I am pleased to report that the latest trends in the COVID-19 data here in Lowell suggest that we can meet our target of returning our first group of students to in-person instruction after the February vacation.
Therefore, we are planning for those students in substantially separate special education programs - who were previously participating in our in-person learning model - to return to campus starting Monday, February 22.
Likewise, we are also on track to have our second group of students return on Monday, March 1 - those students, who are not in a substantially separate special education program, but were previously served in-person this school year as part of our original school reopening plan.
Every Thursday, the Commonwealth releases its community-based COVID-19 dashboard. This week’s report shows the COVID-19 rates here in Lowell continuing to improve. The average number of daily cases per 100,000 residents is now 63.2, down from 72.5 last week, 87.0 two weeks ago, and significantly lower than the 134.4 average daily incidence rate in the middle of December. Meanwhile the “percent positivity rate” (the percentage of tests that are positive here in Lowell) is now 7.10, down from 8.37 last week, 10.15 two weeks ago, and much lower than the 12.33 in the middle of December.
Families of students set to return to in-person instruction either on February 22 or March 1 will receive additional information from their schools. We will also be reaching out next week with a district communication providing more information about transportation, COVID-19 safety, and utilizing state-sponsored pool testing for COVID-19.
In the meantime, if your child has NOT attended school in-person at any point this school year, please take a few minutes and fill out this survey gauging your interest, if any, for your child to possibly participate in in-person learning later this school year. April 1 remains our target date for expanding in-person learning for additional students beyond those who were assigned to in-person learning at the beginning of this school year.
We remain thankful for your partnership and flexibility throughout this unprecedented health crisis and look forward to welcoming students back to campus in the near future.
Sincerely,
Dr. Joel D. Boyd
Superintendent of Schools
