Baker extends school closure to May 4th

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced today that the closure of all state schools has been extended to May 4th. Any further closure is currently subject to the decision of local school districts.

Baker also reestablished that this is not a vacation for students.

“During this long-term closure the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will work with school districts to further develop educational programming students can use at home. This way schools can plan for the return of students in May.” 

Further guidance on the educational programming mentioned will be sent out to school districts on Thursday, March 26th. These are expected to be implemented by early April.

Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken has stated that currently there is no plan to extend the closure date further, but urged the importance of social distancing. 

“The extension is up to us,” said Mayor Romeo Theken. “Are we ready to take this seriously? Because there’s a lot of people still not believing how dangerous this is. I hope there is no extension, but like everyone else we take this one day at a time.”

As for Gloucester High School, Principal James Cook has been remotely updating the student body via Google Classroom. His latest update addressed that the original end of the term, April 3rd, has now been extended to April 14th. 

GHS staff are now working to provide resources for students to learn remotely. 

“To help students maintain connections and engage in learning, we’ve been working to make sure students and families have what they need,” said Cook. “For example, we’re providing loaner Chromebooks for students with broken devices. We’re making sure families know how to get free wifi access if they need it.”