Watch live: COVID-19 response group calls on state to open schools safely

A local COVID-19 response group is hosting a panel discussion demanding the safe reopening of schools in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts COVID-19 Response Alliance, an umbrella group that includes several activist organizations fighting for the state to adopt “people-centered” policy in the time of coronavirus, will broadcast the discussion on Facebook at 10 a.m. The group cites proposals written by local teachers’ unions as an equitable course of action, and the panel will include several parents that are members of the alliance.

“We’ve seen commendable resilience from students, parents, and educators who adjusted quickly to the new demands,” said Lee Matsueda, the executive director of Community Labor United and chair of the alliance in a press release. “The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) had months to plan. Yet, students, parents, and educators do not have a safe way to go back to school in any capacity.

“Working parents are without any direction to plan for September and beyond,” Matsueda wrote. “School districts do not have the money to adequately prepare for a safe return or make the needed investments for equitable remote learning. Teachers have been left with vague, unworkable guidelines for online teaching. And school districts have been told to fend for themselves in providing appropriate PPE.”

Watch the livestream below, or on Facebook.