WORCESTER, Mass. - Governor Charlie Baker wants to phase out remote learning starting in April. However, a Worcester School Committee member says getting rid of the option could have consequences.

Tracy O'Connell Novick says they have data which shows even at three feet social distancing, Worcester Public Schools don't have the space to send all of their elementary students back into school buildings.

O'Connell Novick says if the state takes away the option of remote and hybrid learning from regular districts it could affect students returning, and Worcester was already having a conversation about putting together a remote academy for next year.

“To say to local districts you can't do that, while the state actually has two fully virtual schools they have authorized, have been going for some years, effectively takes students and drives them into those schools unnecessarily. We've been running remote classrooms since September. There are certainly families who are not well served by that, but there are many families who have told us they have been impressed at the success they've had and would choose not to leave the Worcester Public Schools and their teachers, and schools ,and so forth, unless we effectively as a district are not given a choice,” O’Connell Novick said. 

O'Connell Novick says people should know this is Commissioner Jeffery Riley requesting authority from the Department of Early and Secondary Education [DESE] board to authorize in-person learning and it is not a done deal. She also has questions as to whether this is exceeding Riley's authority and plans to bring it up at the Worcester school committee meeting Thursday night.