LYNN NEWS ROUND-UP
OCTOBER 13, 2020
See our other COVID-19 related posts by clicking here.
Check out our 2020 MA State Election Coverage with campaign interviews, voting information, & more by clicking here.
Superintendent’s Report: October 8, 2020
We are very quickly approaching the one-month benchmark in full remote learning. Having established new systems and protocols, developed new skills sets with new tools, and adapted in countless ways to launching a school year in way unlike we have ever had to before, I would say that we are moving right along. I set ambitious district wide goals of 100% of students having an Internet connected device and signed on to Schoology and an average daily attendance of 95% by October 9th. With one day to go before that chosen deadline, we have come very close to meeting that goal. At present, 91% of the current enrollment has signed on to Schoology and we have distributed just over 14,000 devices, which constitutes 90 percent of the total student body (bear in mind that some families have chosen to use their own device). With a recent arrival and distribution of IPads (which began October 7th), we will should have enough devices to cover our kindergarteners and thus reach 100% goal. Our average daily attendance has hovered around 92%.
Setting ambitious goals is a nonnegotiable – now more so than ever. As has been said on numerous occasions, we are very quickly evolving to meet the important task of facilitating learning and development – few endeavors supersede this one. Moving quickly is a necessity, yet doing so also unearths challenges and limitations. Moving quickly also makes potential pitfalls harder to see. We are in the process of developing a mechanism that would allow us to more effectively monitor and mine for existing issues and, to the extent possible, predict potential issues down the line given the newness of so many systems, structures, protocols, and tools. We know there will be challenges, success this year depends in large part on our ability to quickly address issues as they arise and accurately predict and avoid potential challenges.
With a little more than two weeks of instruction under our belt, we are quickly moving to gain deeper insight to where students are academically. To help in this effort we are finalizing a universal academic screening tool. The tool, iReady, is a fully virtual, standards-aligned platform and is provided to the Lynn Public Schools at no cost through a partnership with Lesley University. This will allow staff to accurately pinpoint gaps in learning and plan instruction accordingly. We see this as a significant step forward in terms of post-quarantine, data driven instruction. It is also a step forward in that it represents the first district-wide universal academic screener. We are excited about this step.
Teaching and learning continues in earnest. Embracing a philosophy of providing more opportunities for connection and engagement, we are also planning to launch after school clubs and activities at the end of October. Clubs will be facilitated virtually and will be low stakes opportunities for connection, a much-needed factor for students. In the same realm, we remain limited in what we can offer in terms of high school athletics beyond virtual experiences. Communities that remain in the red (according to the state metric) and are providing learning remotely cannot engage in athletics competition or practice. This has been clarified and confirmed directly from the Commissioner. We are hopeful that our student athletes will be able to engage in the “fall two” season, beginning in late February.
Finally, in what little research there is about teaching and learning in this context, there seems to be a perceptible tie that binds around the idea that partnership with families yields stronger student outcomes – very much as it does in any context. Outreach has been significant in our effort to connect students with the learning management system. We have taken the next step this week to parent/guardian log-ins on Schoology, a process that will span the next couple of weeks. Doing so will allow for more seamless communication with parents and the language of their choice and a two-way communication opportunity as well. Related, principals are establishing their school site councils and we are in the early stages of establishing Super Users, – a group of parents/guardians who will receive extended training in Schoology to serve as a resource for other parents. Among the various advancements and steps forward, there certainly is one to be taken in the realm of partnership with our families.
Respectfully,
Patrick Tutwiler. PhD
Superintendent of Lynn Public Schools
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Lynn Public Schools will host a virtual town hall on Wednesday, October 14th at 6pm. They will update families on important matters & solicit feedback.
Watch the Town Hall in English & Spanish.
It is important to note that a post has circulated Facebook from the Lynn, Indiana Police Department that says Halloween has not been canceled. The latest news is that Mayor McGee has encouraged people to take part in lower-risk activities. Click here for Mayor McGee’s statement.
Lynn Public Schools 2020-2021 School Year Menus and Meal Distribution Plan
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Meals will also be offered at a later time in the day to accommodate anyone who cannot make the earlier times during the day. Seven days’ worth of meals will be distributed to cover the whole week.
Every Wednesday from October 14th on, meals will also be distributed between 4 PM until 7 PM at the following elementary schools:
| Cobbet Elementary | Drewicz Elementary | Ford Elementary | Harrington Elementary |
| Ingalls Elementary | Lincoln-Thomson Elementary | Tracy Elementary |
Breakfast and Lunch Meals will be made available to all Lynn Public School students. The USDA has extended summer waivers that will continue to allow parents/guardians to pick up their children’s meals at distribution sites. As for now, school ID numbers will not be required for pick up. This could change as the waivers are only extended to December 31st or earlier depending on funding.
Distribution days will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Distribution times will be from 12 Noon until 2:30 PM.
(Monday and Wednesday will be two days’ worth of meals and Friday will be three days)
Meals will be offered at the following school locations throughout the City:
| English High School | Brickett Elementary | Cobbet Elementary | Hood Elementary |
| Classical High School | Ingalls Elementary | Lynn Tech (Main Building) | Connery Elementary |
| Lincoln-Thomson Elementary | Marshall Middle | Drewicz Elementary | Lynn Woods Elementary |
| Pickering Jr. High | Ford Elementary | Sewell-Anderson | Aborn Elementary |
| Harrington Elementary | Shoemaker Elementary | Tracy Elementary |
Download This Notice In English and Spanish by clicking here.
PINE GROVE FALL CLEAN UP
OCTOBER 15th – NOVEMBER 1st 2020
All decorations will be removed and disposed of between these dates.
Any summer planters and miscellaneous items left on the graves that will interfere with the fall clean-up and maintenance of the cemetery will be removed from the lots and graves. All fencing and borders must be removed. Please cut back all perennial plants. Vigil Lights, Mums and fall decorations may remain.
The replacing of any items on the graves is prohibited from October 15th through November 1st.
Residents having questions or needing additional information may contact the Lynn DPW, Cemetery Division at (781) 268-8000 extension 13 or
feel free to email us.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Refer to our Rules and Regulations or visit our webpage for more info.
City of Lynn Announces Upcoming Free Flu Clinics
The City of Lynn is hosting the first of two free flu clinics on Thursday, October 15th at Marshall Middle School located at 100 Brookline Street from 3:00-7:00PM, or until supplies last.
All Lynn residents over the age of 6 months old are welcome and encouraged, regardless of their insurance or immigration status. Residents who do have insurance must bring their insurance card and complete an insurance form which will be available on site or can be filled out ahead of time by printing the form from the City of Lynn website (www.lynnnma.gov). Vehicles should enter onto Brookline Street from Chatham Street only. There will be no entrance from Empire Street.
A second free flu clinic will be offered later in the month of October.
Please call the Department of Public Health at Lynn City Hall at 781-598-4000 with any questions.
Community Media Day is this Tuesday!
This Tuesday is Community Media Day! Community media encourages local dialogue, increases discourse around policy issues, fosters an understanding of local cultures, and shares information to improve our lives.
Learn more about LCTV by clicking here.
Watch LCTV content on our website by clicking here.
Updates from state government
As of Monday night, DPH reported a total of 136,933 cases of COVID-19. The state has now confirmed a total of 9,401 deaths from the virus.- Expanded rental assistance, rapid rehousing efforts and streamlined application processes are cornerstones of a $171 million plan announced Monday by the Baker administration to keep tenants in their homes and support landlords after the state’s eviction moratorium expires on Saturday. The plan represents an alternative to extending the moratorium, which Governor Baker is authorized to do under a law passed earlier in the pandemic and is a path that many community activists and some lawmakers say is preferable for the safety of tenants struggling due to job losses and other COVID-19 pandemic hardships. Governor Baker’s team said the plan was developed in coordination with the Massachusetts Trial Court and others “to manage the end of the moratorium” on Saturday.
- It uses federal funds as well as existing authorizations under a COVID-19 supplemental budget and does not require any additional legislative appropriation. The plan wouldn’t be possible, according to the administration, if lawmakers hadn’t granted flexibility for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program, which is assigned a $100 million commitment this fiscal year to expand capacity. The plan’s other major pot of funding is $48.7 million for HomeBASE and other rapid rehousing programs that aim to put people in new housing after they’ve been evicted and prevent long periods of homelessness. A new temporary emergency program will provide funds to households for up to 12 months to assist with moving expenses, rents, and security deposits.
- Mail-in voting has already begun and Massachusetts on Saturday, Oct. 17 commences an early voting period that runs through Oct. 30. Four days of weekend voting will be held in every community during that period. Citing advice from the U.S. Postal Service, Secretary of State Bill Galvin has asked voters to submit their vote-by-mail applications no later than Oct. 20. Mail-in ballots that are not received by local election officials on or before Election Day (Nov. 3) must arrive no later than Nov. 6 and be postmarked by Nov. 3 in order to be counted. Elected officials in Massachusetts have defended the massive mail-in system as a properly functioning one, rejecting the claims of President Donald Trump who is trying to sow doubt about the integrity of mail-in voting and its expanded use across the nation.
- The Baker administration is required by statute to determine by Oct. 15 whether to revisit the state budget’s consensus revenue estimate, which set the expectation that Massachusetts would collect $31.151 billion in tax revenue this fiscal year. That pre-pandemic estimate is outdated and the Department of Revenue this week said it now expects fiscal year 2021 tax revenues will total between $25.918 billion and $28.387 billion, between $2.76 billion and $5.23 billion below the assumption agreed to before the pandemic upended the economy. For frame of reference, the state collected $29.596 billion in taxes in fiscal 2020.
- Section 5B of Chapter 29 of the Mass. General Laws requires the secretary of administration and finance, with the governor’s approval, to “prepare estimates of budgeted revenues which in the secretary’s judgment will be available for both the current year and for the annual budget for the ensuing fiscal year” on or before Oct. 15 each year. In a typical year, a lowering of the estimate would trigger unilateral budget cuts under the governor’s special executive “9C” powers, but this year is different since the Legislature has not yet even debated a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.
- An alteration this year is more likely to kick-start the budget process, which has been on ice since Governor Baker proposed a $44.6 billion spending plan for fiscal 2021 back in January. Instead, a revision of revenue estimates from Governor Baker and A&F Secretary Michael Heffernan this year could trigger a provision of Section 7H of Chapter 29 of the Mass. General Laws that calls for the governor to update his budget proposal if he determines “that the tax revenues or non-tax revenues supporting the general appropriation bill have materially decreased.”
- The law requires Governor Baker to “submit to the general court by message recommended corrective amendments to the governor’s original budget submission” within 15 days of his determination. That means Beacon Hill could have a fresh budget proposal to read the weekend of Halloween and that the Legislature could begin debating sometime after all 200 seats are on the Nov. 3 ballot.
- A&F Secretary Heffernan said Wednesday that the administration is still charting its path forward. State government has run on a series of temporary budgets since FY21 began July 1 and the current budget is expected to expire at the end of this month. Governor Baker could file a third temporary budget for this fiscal year, in tandem with or before his potential filing of corrective amendments later this month.
From Mayor McGee’s office: The Lynn Public Health Department has confirmed that as of today, the number of active, confirmed positive COVID-19 cases is 287 with 16 new cases today. 4,723 Lynn residents have recovered and 118 have died. The total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Lynn since March 21, 2020, including those who have died and recovered, is 5,128. Please visit the City of Lynn COVID-19 Data Dashboard which is updated daily.
Stop the Spread Initiative Testing have been extended until Saturday, October 31st
• Fallon Ambulance offers testing at the following locations. Walk up Only:
o Parking lot at Lynn English High School
Mon – Sat from 11:00am until 5:00pm
o Parking Lot across from Market Basket on Federal Street
Mon – Sat 12:00pm-6:00pm
o Residents who have been tested for COVID-19 through Fallon Ambulance can call 617-765-0176 with any questions related to your COVID-19 test results.
• Call Lynn Community Health Center (781)-581-3900 to make a COVID-19 test appointment at 9 Buffum Street location
Please visit http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/
We will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 through the City website (www.lynnma.gov), social media, and the Smart 911 emergency notification system (sign up at www.smart911.com).
If you have a news story that you would like to share, please contact us via email or call 781-780-9460.
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