Azar Looks to State For Guidance

Dighton-Rehoboth School Superintendent Anthony Azar is looking to state officials for guidance regarding whether or not to reopen the district’s schools after April 6.

The schools have been closed since March 16 due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.  “When decisions were being made about the closure of schools, a number of superintendents including myself were very concerned that (we) were pretty much left on their own,” Azar said Tuesday. “I think that led to a lot of angst that was created unnecessarily.”

Azar wants superintendents across Massachusetts to be unified in their decisions on when schools in their districts will be reopened.  “As you know, COVID-19 knows no boundaries,” Azar said. “We’re in a much better position now working with the Commissioner of Education and the Governor to have one voice instead of 251 individual superintendents making decisions.”

Azar is also supportive of the Rehoboth Board of Selectmen’s decision to postpone the annual town meeting to June.  “Having the town meeting in June will reduce the angst caused by a town warrant, written by the BOS and finance chair in March, which hardly conveys the facts,” Azar noted. “It's usually written as fiction to create a negative atmosphere towards the school district.”

“A June meeting makes perfect sense since most of our revenue numbers from the state are pretty much solidified by then,” Azar continued. “So, kudos to the Rehoboth Board of Seleçtmen for finally moving the town meeting to a time in June that makes perfect sense.”