Beverly School Committee votes hybrid for K-6, remote for grades 7-12 to open 2020-21 year

BEVERLY — August 6, 2020 — Beverly School Committee splits 2020-21 opening: hybrid for K-6, remote for grades 7-12. In a virtual committee of the whole meeting that ran past midnight on August 6, the seven-member board adopted kindergarten-through-fourth-grade students under Superintendent Dr. Sue Trocheck's "Model 2A" five-day modified schedule — roughly 8 a.m. to noon in person with a minimum four-and-a-half-foot classroom separation — while fifth and sixth graders were assigned a two-day in-person, three-day remote hybrid allowing six-foot distancing. Grades seven through 12 will begin fully remote, a motion that passed five to two with Mayor Michael Cahill and Kimberly Cuello dissenting. A straight all-remote motion had failed five to two earlier in the evening, and a full-hybrid motion also failed five to two. The committee voted six to one to set the student start date at September 16, 2020, accepting Trocheck's recommendation to front-load professional development days. The committee also unanimously approved Paul Manzo of 89 Lovett Street as Beverly's representative to the Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District School Committee, replacing Ed Armstrong.