Peabody School Committee Plans January 4 Hybrid Return Despite Teachers Union Objection

PEABODY — December 22, 2020 — Peabody School Committee clashes with teachers union over January return to hybrid learning as COVID-19 cases rise. Vice Chair Beverly Griffin Dunn presided at the December 22 meeting at Higgins Middle School, where Superintendent Josh Vidal said the district planned to resume its hybrid model January 4, citing Peabody's public health department support and no confirmed in-school transmission. Peabody Federation of Teachers President Mary Henry pushed back during public comment, saying staff absences at the high school had reached as many as 20 in a single day, substitutes were unavailable, and the district could "no longer say in good faith" that spread was not occurring in buildings, calling on the committee to go remote the week of January 4 as neighboring districts including Beverly, Salem, Danvers, Lynn, and Revere had announced. The committee also heard that CTE Director Marie Ferry's program had secured a $200,000 capital skills grant — split between culinary arts equipment and an electronics engineering redesign — and members flagged a roughly $225,000 shortfall in the Peabody Public Library's budget that could threaten its state accreditation, referring the matter to a subcommittee for a meeting with city councilors. The district's total appropriated FY21 budget stands at $74,854,358, with $37.9 million spent at the midpoint of the year.