I'm calling Rita L. Nieves and Dr. Jennifer J. Lo of @HealthyBoston back to the 7th grade math classroom for a quick refresher on middle school statistics. #MTBoS #bospoli #bpschat #SafetyFirstBPS

Specifically, their misuse of average (mean) when other statistical measures would be more appropriate.

By this logic, if my classroom has 12 students and the other 35 classrooms in my school are empty, then there are only 0.33 students in each class. Which seems safe, but also a laughable use of average. (I tell Ss it is okay to make mistakes, but they would still laugh at that)

By the same logic, all traffic in Boston averages 11 MPH and it is safe to walk across I-93 during the day. Or the average number of lions in fenced in spaces is so low across the city, that the cage in Franklin Park seems pretty safe.

Please @BCassellius and @marty_walsh, next time you need an excuse note from a mayor-appointed commission, just ask a BPS 7th grader - or better yet, appoint one. @khymani17 is a great example that students (the ones who are living this experience) know what's up.

So...have you tried using maximum instead of mean? Do you know which school, which classroom, is the most crowded? Have you tested the air quality in that room? Is there a level of community spread at which that school or room will be unsafe?

If @BostonSchools is serious about "monitoring the data" for COVID decisions with huge implications, I really wish someone who was comfortable with middle school statistics was advising them before sending out signed letters approving the "safety" of every single learning space.