Marlborough committee approves Feb. 22 phased return to hybrid learning

MARLBOROUGH -- January 26, 2021, Marlborough accelerates hybrid return to Feb. 22 and approves new private school. The School Committee voted Tuesday to move up Superintendent Michael Bergeron's phased reopening by one week, starting with grades 3, 8 and 12 returning Feb. 22, followed by grades 4, 7 and 9, then full Cohort B and Cohort A weeks bringing all K-12 students back by mid-March. Active district cases stand at 42, down from 50 on Jan. 21; citywide active cases fell from 407 to 354. The district is contracting with Project Beacon for weekly PCR testing funded through ESSER grants, alongside existing Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen testing. "If the committee's direction is to come back sooner than what is on the paper, we will make it happen," Bergeron said. The committee also unanimously granted conditional approval to the New England Innovation Academy, opening at 280 Locke Drive with 64 students in September, and accepted $5,229.57 in Marlborough Education Foundation grants for five teacher-submitted programs.