Walsh Says More Boston Schools To Open Next Week For Up To 1,700 Special Needs Students

More BPS students with high needs will return to in-person learning next week, Mayor Marty Walsh announced Thursday.

The Mayor said the move was arranged to accommodate families who requested in-person education. As many as 1,700 students could opt in, though attendance is not mandatory.

“Currently, we have a small number of students with complex disabilities learning in-person in four of our schools in Boston,” Walsh said. “Beginning Monday the 14^th, an additional 28 schools will open to provide in-person learning opportunities for approximately 1,700 kids.” That brings the total to 32 now in operation.

Walsh said the Boston Public School system has made safety adjustments to open, including updated filtration systems and free-standing air purifiers in the buildings without HVAC systems and medical grade personal protective equipment for nurses in each of the schools.

“We obviously have to balance the needs of COVID safety with the duty to educate high-needs students. Those students [needs’] include disabilities and language supports which can only be met in person.”

Walsh’s comments came as he announced the city’s latest 394 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing Boston’s total to 31,086. Seven deaths were also reported Wednesday, bringing the pandemic city toll to 947.

East Boston, Hyde Park, and Dorchester remain the hardest hit neighborhood.

Walsh mentioned that although cases are rising, Boston’s hospital numbers have “ticked up” at a rate sufficiently slow to make the case surge manageable, so far.

Marty Martinez, the city’s health and human services chief, explained that his department is monitoring three metrics – COIVD-positive patients’ emergency department visits, ICU capacity and the availability medical and surgical beds.

As of today, the 7-day average ICU usage is about 90 percent.

“That’s higher than it’s been for quite some time,” Martinez said. “We don’t want to see it high, we want to see it lower, but our hospitals are managing that.”

Martinez said there are about 300 COVID patients in hospitals across Boston right now – significantly less than during the coronavirus peak in April, when there were 1,600.

“As we live with COVID, we have to make sure our hospitals can take care of people and right now, they can,” he said.

Last week concluded the 2020 outdoor dining program. 550 restaurants were approved to seat patrons outside.

The 2021 pilot program will begin on April 1, but restaurants can begin applying now, Walsh announced.

“Starting next week, we’re going to be hosting virtual help sessions for restaurants who want to apply,” he said.

The first session is scheduled for Wednesday, December 16.

Walsh also chided Quincy mayor Thomas P. Koch when asked about the pair’s gridlock over the Long Island Bridge.

On Wednesday, a Suffolk Superior Court judge nullified a Quincy commission’s denial of Boston’s effort to rebuild the bridge and open an addiction recovery campus on the island.

Multiple news outlets have reported the Koch administration’s intention to appeal that ruling.

“The Mayor of Quincy is a friend of mine. I respect the elected officials in Quincy, but this is just simply wrong,” he said. “This isn’t a fight we should be having,” Walsh continued, pointing out that Boston owns Long Island and historically used the site for social services.

“I’m excited that a Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the city of Boston. Our goal is to move forward… and if the first person in line [for the recovery campus] is from the city of Quincy, or the first person in line is from Squantum, they’re more than welcome to come in.”