March 15, 2020 by Carol Britton Meyer
In response to Gov. Charlie Baker's order today calling for a three-week closure of all public and private schools in Massachusetts -- through April 7 -- Hingham Supt. of Schools Paul Austin shared what will happen moving forward.
"Because we had already closed and had begun the process of planning for the shutdown, we are well on our way to being able to provide the necessary support to our students and families," Austin told the Hingham Anchor. "The administrative team will be meeting virtually tomorrow to continue to plan for the provision of educational enrichment opportunities to our children. We need to be responsive to the needs of our most vulnerable population of students."
Most importantly, Austin said, "the governor made the point of limiting social gatherings to fewer than 25 people, and he encouraged parents to have their children practice social distancing by avoiding gathering together."
Austin said Hingham Public Schools "will do whatever it can to support our children, our families, and our community. I know this is a frightening situation for many of our families. We are committed to doing whatever we can to lessen the impact for so many of our friends and neighbors."
Baker is also requiring all restaurants and bars in the state to shut down on-premise consumption of food and beverages beginning Tuesday, March 17, and extending through April 17, according to published reports.