“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of what Governor Sununu said was not even the highest surge New Hampshire will see from Omicron. School districts across the state are struggling with staffing shortages as the number of cases climbs higher than ever. While educators, parents and health care professionals are focused on keeping our children and families healthy and safe, Commissioner Edelblut and the State Board of Education are focused on penalizing school districts for making the difficult decision to temporarily switch to remote instruction during a community-wide outbreak,” said Megan Tuttle, NEA-New Hampshire President.
“New Hampshire educators and parents are not eager to revert to a remote instructional model. They overwhelmingly agree that distance education should be used sparingly in the name of health and safety for their students, and as such should be reserved as a potential option,” said Tuttle.
“This decision flies in the face of common sense and the longstanding policy to provide local officials flexibility in circumstances where COVID has spread in a school to the point where the only option left is to take a brief pause to arrest the spread to protect the students and the community at large,” said Tuttle.