We’re Back To Work by Michael Lafferty

Since the second week of March, Boston and Quincy schools closed their buildings to students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that time, the members in Boston and Quincy have deep cleaned and disinfected the school buildings along with their regular summer cleaning that takes place before each school year, but with the pandemic, we are not sure how or when they will let students and staff back into the schools. The school departments of each district are reaching out to parents and staff for feedback on whether to continue the remote learning or go to a hybrid model, where the students will report to the school buildings twice a week and continue their classes at home the other three days. The only decision that Boston has made is that they will not reopen with all the students gathered in the school buildings at the same time.

With the start of the fiscal year, the city of Boston School Department hired an additional 25 full-time custodial positions. Since there are now increased expectations of maintaining and disinfecting the school buildings, these additional positions are greatly appreciated and much-needed. Throughout the summer, the 25 additional custodians are receiving training on the proper procedures for top-to-bottom cleaning techniques as well as the CDC guidelines for disinfecting school buildings.