Over the past year, the Nashua Board of Education has responded to the pandemic with an abundance of caution, presumed to be driven by good faith concern. Now, however, parents and students of the District are no longer able to assume good faith concern.

On Jan. 12, the BOE decided that in-person learning will not occur for the “foreseeable future.” This decision was made despite parent input, despite a hybrid education plan that was established to meaningfully address COVID concerns, and despite the data which demonstrates only 511 active cases of COVID exist in Nashua as of January 8th. That is 511 active cases out of a population of approximately 90,000 people. The new hospitalization rate per 100,000 is 1.1. This data does not support the BOE’s decision.

It is widely known that children are not the vulnerable ones among us. The notion that a large population of Nashua students live with grandparents is simply speculative, no data has been shared to support that. Again, the hybrid model allowed vulnerable families to opt out.

As a concerned parent, watching my high school children and their friends flounder in a sea of low expectations and isolation established via remote education, I wonder why the BOE is not interested in the statistics of how many families are being severely disadvantaged by remote education.

I lost faith in the BOE last year when only a single member voted against suspending public comments for the duration of the pandemic. (BOE Motions April 13th 2020). The vote to suspend public comments happened directly before a vote to establish a pass/fail default grading system. These meetings followed multiple parent questionnaires that did not seem to influence the voting process. Students look to parents for help in understanding the decision to cancel the hybrid schedule they were looking forward to, and parents look to the BOE, the school officials, the Mayor…. and there simply is no longer a rational explanation.

Quite frankly, if the Mayor listened in on some of the remote classes offered, he may have an idea of what the students are being deprived of. Even the best teachers have grown tired of lecturing to mostly faceless voices sitting at home in their pajamas participating as little as possible.

Over 81 school systems in the state of NH are open for in-person learning again, some fully open, others using hybrid models. Various schools within Nashua and various schools in proximity to Nashua are paving the way to restore our students’ education and our families’ ability to resume some semblance of normal functioning. These schools have demonstrated that in-person learning has not equated to a “super spreader” activity. Nashua School Board members should be reminded they were voted in by the people; shutting out the people most impacted by this decision is a gross misuse of a public service position.

The former proposed hybrid model allowed for the protection of vulnerable students and families. The current data excuse is simply not logical, and the BOE needs to reconsider its misguided decision. Letting our students languish at home with inadequate education for the “foreseeable future” is simply ridiculous. Nashua students and their families deserve better.

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