By Jim Clark

As the Somerville Public School system has been pursuing a plan for a phased in return to in-person classroom attendance by early December, delays in fitting classrooms with suitable ventilation and other resources have forced officials to push the reopening into January of next year.

Following the latest meeting of the School Committee on Monday, a joint update issued by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Superintendent Mary E. Skipper, and School Committee Chair Carrie Normand verified that the delay was deemed necessary.

“As you know, we have been planning for a gradual re-entry to our schools as ventilation work on our school buildings is completed to bring buildings to within a Low Risk level of potential airborne transmission,” the statement read. “Along with the building ventilation work, we have also developed a comprehensive COVID-19 testing plan for students and staff, and put in place health and safety protocols in our school buildings that align with CDC guidelines for when students and staff are back in our schools.”

According to the statement, it was learned over the weekend that ventilation materials and equipment shortages would require the schools to delay their reopening start date, originally scheduled for December 3 for Group 1 buildings, by at least several weeks. “At this point, we do not anticipate being able to reopen any of our school buildings prior to January 2021,” read the statement.

The update further indicated that Somerville’s Department of Infrastructure and Asset Management is working closely with the contractor and is expecting a new projected timeline for Group 1 buildings from the contractor.

Buildings were grouped based on the estimated time that it would take to complete the necessary ventilation work to bring each building to within the Low Risk range. The first group of schools scheduled to be completed are the Argenziano, Capuano, and West Somerville Neighborhood School. The new Somerville High School is slated to be ready for occupancy in January.

Additionally, the update stated, “We know that this is frustrating and disappointing news. We share your disappointment and will continue to do everything we can to expedite the building work so that we can safely start to bring our students and staff back to our classrooms. You also have our assurance that we will continue to be transparent and keep you informed throughout this process. Work on finalizing contracts and work schedules for Group 2 schools (high school mods and East Somerville Community School) and Group 3 schools (Kennedy, Healey, Winter Hill) is also continuing to move forward. That work is slightly ahead of schedule of the initial timelines.”

“As we have repeatedly emphasized, our focus has been on planning for a safe and sustainable reopening of our schools,” the statement asserted. “That means ensuring that we meet all the guidelines that we have established for the gradual reopening of our schools to minimize the risk to students and staff, and to minimize the disruption that multiple school openings and closings can cause. As we have continued to hear over the last several weeks, this virus is unrelenting, making our thorough and cautious approach all the more important.”

Further updates will be presented at the next Schools Reopening Town Hall event for some time in early or mid-December. Updates will also be made at the December 7 and 21 School Committee meetings.