Marlborough School Committee votes to put high school on remote learning Sept. 24

MARLBOROUGH -- September 22, 2020, Marlborough sends its high school fully remote starting Sept. 24 amid a COVID-19 case cluster. The School Committee voted 7-0 Tuesday on Superintendent Michael Bergeron's recommendation to pull Marlborough High School from hybrid into remote learning through an anticipated Oct. 13 return, also suspending in-person athletic practices and games. Bergeron said none of the recently positive students had attended in person but that contact tracing risked broader exposure, and that the city's 14-day case rate was hovering between 7.7 and 8.3 per 100,000, with Marlborough expected to be designated "red" on the state's risk map Wednesday. He said roughly 45 percent of active cases in the city were in residents from high-school age through 29. Mayor Arthur Vigeant, who chairs the committee, urged keeping the elementary schools open: "Anything we can do to keep the grammar schools the way it is." The committee also approved 11 policy revisions and a $10,350 OpenSciEd grant.