Coronavirus: Boston Schools Pause Reopening Plans Amid Covid-19 Surge

The next phase of the Boston Public Schools reopening plan has been delayed because the city's Covid-19 positivity rate has climbed higher than 4%. Mayor Marty Walsh made the announcement Wednesday.

Remote learning began Sept. 21 and families were allowed to opt in for hybrid learning scheduled to start this month.

Walsh says preschoolers and kindergartners who were scheduled to report to school the week of Oct. 15 will now start Oct. 22.

Grades 4 through 8 are now scheduled to transition to a hybrid model the week of Nov. 5, and grades 9 through 12 the week of Nov. 16.

Massachusetts has been hit hard by the pandemic, with more than 9,300 deaths and 133,000 cases.

Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes heads the infectious diseases division at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

I think it's concerning that the infection rate in the Boston area has spiked above four percent, and I think it's appropriate for the mayor and everybody to take a second look at what we're doing about reopening and to pause while we think about what measures might be put into place to try and get better control of the epidemic in the city," he says.

Marty Martinez, Boston's chief of health and human services, says there have been more than 17,700 cases and 764 deaths in the city alone as of Tuesday.

He says the average positivity rate for the seven days ending Saturday reached 4.1%, the highest it's been since early June, Martinez says.

The delay in in-person learning infuriates Boston Public Schools second grader Tristan Turner.

"I'm very mad because we can't go ... we can't go into actual school. Because of this coronavirus, we gotta stay apart and I don't really wanna spread it to my family over there. So... so I do remote learning," Turner says.

Remote learning, however, is a poor substitute for spending the day in the classroom with friends, he says.

"It's all right. I mean, at least I still can get to see friends and all my teachers, but I don't... . Mostly, I really wish to do is to be in an actual school, not just stay at home," Turner says.

Jennifer Royal is a mother of three, including twins.

A chemical engineer, Royal was forced to take time off work to help her children take their lessons online.

She is conflicted over the decision to delay in-person classes.

"I think it wasn't unexpected, given that the rate of infection and how it's been trending. But I do think it's terrible for children and for working parents because, from our experience, the children just don't learn as well behind a screen. There's too many distractions. But we also want them to be safe, so, in reality, there just aren't any good choices," Royal says as her kids play in a public playground.

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