Easton Public Schools Shares Update Regarding School Reopening Plans

Families Encouraged to View, Provide Feedback on Draft Reopening Plan

EASTON — Superintendent Lisha Cabral would like to share with community members the steps the district has taken toward building a plan for school reopening in the fall and invites the Easton community to review and provide feedback on the draft reopening plan.

The district convened seven working groups that included more than 160 educators, administrators, Easton Educators Association representatives, school committee members, parents, students, town officials and community members. The groups analyzed each area of need in the district to prepare to create reopening plans.

On Tuesday, July 28, the district shared a draft of its preferred back to school plan with the school committee. This plan is a draft, and must be approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Easton School Committee before the selected plan can be published in full detail and begin to be implemented.

The draft plan is available for review on the district’s website here. 

Additionally, the full school committee meeting regarding the draft plan is available for viewing here. Those who view the meeting should note that there is a “Part 1” video and “Part 2” video for the full meeting. 

Frequently asked questions regarding the return to school are also posted on the district website and can be viewed here. The page is frequently updated and any additional questions that are not addressed in the document can be submitted to Lynn Souza at LSouza@easton.k12.ma.us.

Parents will receive a second survey by email within the next two weeks that will ask for feedback on the draft plan. Parents are asked to view the presentation and read the FAQs, as well as ask any additional questions they may have before completing the survey. It is important that parents complete the survey with as much knowledge of what to expect as possible so that the district has accurate data to take into account for the next phase of planning. 

Families and staff will receive a telephone call notifying them that the survey is available. The district will send only one email per family to the person that has been identified as the “primary” contact to help ensure only one response from each family to maintain the accuracy of the data. Families are urged to check all emails and spam folders if they are having difficulty finding the survey once it is released.

“I would like to thank the members of our working groups who contributed their time and feedback in evaluating our options, health and educational guidance and the needs of our students as we moved through the process to create our draft plan. We will continue to carefully monitor additional guidance and feedback and adjust the plan as necessary,” Superintendent Cabral said. “I urge our school community to review the plan and frequently asked questions document before completing the second survey. We value your feedback as we move forward with a plan that we believe will provide the best possible learning experience while ensuring student and staff safety is the paramount consideration.”

The final plan will be submitted for a school committee vote on Thursday, Aug. 6. The meeting information will be posted on the Town of Easton website along with a Zoom link. Viewers can also access the meeting via livestream on the Easton Community Access Television (ECAT) Facebook page. The meeting will also be recorded and made available on the ECAT website. 

Once approved by the school committee, the full details of the final plan will be shared with the community. 

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