OP-ED: Parent Group’s Preliminary Results of Heat-Related School Early Release Survey
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The WPS Parent’s Action Group was formed in order to assess the impact of Watertown Public School (WPS) policies, including school closures, on Watertown families.
We are extraordinarily privileged to live in a school district which cares about social equity and our little group of parents seeks to aid the school district in understanding the needs and realities of Watertown families through, among other things, innovative and nimble data analysis.
The survey issued this week in relation to the WPS early closures is part of a broader project concerning accountability and transparency for the school district in making decisions that may disparately affect families. The ultimate goal of these inquiries is to both understand the impact of decisions on families, as well as to imagine creative possibilities for supporting families. Preliminary Report
Heat-Related Early School Closure Family Impact Study
Dr. Lisa Lucile Owens
January 8, 2021
WPS Parent’s Action Committee
While our survey addressing the family impacts of the recent early school closures is still open and gathering data, this communication shares some preliminary data. On June 7 and 8, 2021, the Watertown Public School (WPS) district, as well as a number of other suburban school districts in eastern Massachusetts closed schools in the afternoons due to temperatures which reached 94 degrees Fahrenheit. This closure was first communicated to parents past 9:00 PM the night before the initial closure. As mask mandates at WPS schools are still in place, and the schools lack sufficient air conditioning, the school district made the decision to close school in the afternoon for all students.