Marlborough School Committee endorses MHS hybrid shift, fall sports plan

MARLBOROUGH -- September 8, 2020, Marlborough scraps priority-grouping plan and shifts high school to full A/B hybrid eight days before opening. Principal Daniel Riley told the School Committee the original plan to bring 10th and 11th graders in daily would have put nearly 800 students on campus and forced remote-week students into "office hours," while the A/B shift restored live synchronous instruction across all core subjects in grades 9-10 and math and English in 11-12. The committee also accepted Athletic Director Jeff Rozinski's fall calendar moving football, volleyball, cheerleading and unified basketball to a new "Fall 2" season running Feb. 22 through April 25, with soccer, field hockey, golf and cross country played this fall under significant MIAA modifications. Superintendent Michael Bergeron said athletics this year is "about participation… not about winning and losing." Members unanimously eliminated preschool tuition for FY21, a $200,000 offset covered from a revolving account, approved a temporary K-12 supervisor of remote learning, dedicated Oct. 14 as a PSAT/SAT testing day, and accepted a $232,710 state remote-learning technology grant.