Pittsfield Schools Plans Return to Hybrid After February Break

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Interim Superintendent of Schools Joseph Curtis delivered hope in his weekly update to Pittsfield Public School students, staff, and family on Friday of plans to return all students to in-person hybrid learning after February break.  

This plan will be presented to the School Committee on Wednesday and, if approved, it will be provided to all families on Friday along with options for parents/guardians who want their children to continue in remote learning.

Two weeks ago, the School Committee voted that career and vocational students Grades 10-12 would return to classrooms on Feb. 1; certain special education classes including Stearns first and second-grade inclusions begin Monday, Feb. 8, and all other students return no sooner than the week of Feb. 22 "or as soon as realistically possible.

That week, the state Department of Public Health's weekly update on COVID-19 data for the previous 14-day period in the city showeed a positivity rate as of 3.32 percent and there were 29.4 cases of the virus per 100,000 people.  

"On an additional positive note, our daily local health data continues to improve," Curtis said, announcing that the city has now reported a percent positivity rate of 2.3 percent as of Feb. 2. "This demonstrates a continued gradual decline in our overall percent positivity."

On Feb.1, Mayor Linda Tyer in her State of The City address said current public health data is beginning to look promising.  At the time, the 14-day positivity rate rested at 3.5 percent, taking Pittsfield out of the high-risk red zone and into the yellow zone.  

Last week, the United Educators of Pittsfield spoke out about feeling blindsided by the School Committee's vote to return to in-person hybrid learning. The union is accusing the committee of privately debating and then approving the change, filing an Open Meeting Law complaint with the School Committee and the city clerk in relation to the Jan. 27 vote.

"This deliberate effort to deny parents the information they need to make informed decisions about the health and welfare of their children is a clear violation of the state's Open Meeting Law," said Melissa Campbell, the president of the UEP.

The School Committee now has 14 business days from the complaint's date to respond. The UEP is asking for revocation of the votes, a return to remote learning, and compensation to teachers affected.   

On Monday, Curtis said he had no comment on the situation as the School Committee and the UEP are addressing it formally.

Curtis on Friday also announced the district, in partnership with the Board of Health, the mayor's office, and County Ambulance, will be conducting a pilot testing event for Taconic High School staff and some career and vocational-technical education students.

Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Friday, April 26, 2024

Bob Presutti, right, is presented the Hebert Award in 2017 for his volunteer efforts at Springside Park. He died in 2023 at age 88.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A tree has been planted next to the Berkshire Athenaeum in honor of local "giant" Robert Presutti.

Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.

"Today is a day where we yes, celebrate trees, but today is also a day where here in the city we intentionally try to acknowledge the good work of folks in our community who spend their time and their efforts and their talents to make Pittsfield a more beautiful place," he said to a crowd of about 20 people.

"Today we are honoring a longtime community volunteer named Bob Presutti. I'm sure a lot of you here know Bob and know his contributions to the city, not only when it comes to trees and parks but also to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program."

The longtime volunteer passed away last year at the age of 88. He contributed more than 10,600 hours to RSVP and had great impacts on the Parks Department over the years from sharing his knowledge and talents to ensuring that workers were safe when working on trees.

"This morning I went through my emails to see how many emails Bob Presutti sent me since the year 2001 when I started with the city. Bob Presutti sent me 14,000 emails and nearly every single one of those was about trees," McGrath said, prompting laughter and smiles from attendees.

One thread struck him as particularly important because it showed Presutti's empathy when it comes to the safety of city workers while caring for trees.

"There were multiple emails from Bob about the need to get the Parks Department maintenance guys into a program learning about chainsaw safety and learning about ladder safety. He was really into making certain that our city workers were well cared for and had all of the instruction that they needed and in fact, he even offered his own time and services after he became certified to teach our city workers," McGrath said.