Back-To-School Plans In CT: Lamont To Make Final Decision

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont will make the final call whether schools will have a full reopening come the start of the school year, but as of Friday he said the state is aiming for the full back-to-school option.

Gov. Ned Lamont met with a group of students Friday in West Haven to answer some questions about the reopening plan, according to NBC Connecticut. He said it would be beneficial to get students back to the classroom and that the state’s positive test rate for the virus is currently below 1 percent. Whether it would stay there come the fall is unknown, he said.

The Connecticut Education Association teacher union put forth its own list of recommendations for a safe reopening. Many teachers affiliated with the CEA have asked for a hybrid reopening model instead of the full reopening. Half of students would attend in-person on Mondays and Tuesday and the other half would attend Thursdays and Fridays with Wednesday serving as a deep cleaning day between the two groups. Students would remote learn the days they aren’t attending in-person classes.

The CEA is also hoping to get class sizes down to 10 to 12 students for elementary schools in order to promote better social distancing and have less crowded classrooms.

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A recent large-scale South Korean study found that children between the ages of 10 and 19-years-old spread the coronavirus at the same rate as adults; children younger than 10 transmit the virus less frequently, the study found. However, study authors cautioned that it is unknown what the transmission rate would be if schools were to reopen.

New Haven school Superintendent Dr. Iline Tracey said many of the teachers in her districts are very afraid about returning amid the pandemic, according to the Hartford Courant.

A car caravan organized by the New Haven Public School Advocates and other organizations drove near the capitol Thursday. Members argued for a distance learning start and smaller class sizes along with other items, according to the Hartford Courant.

Local school districts were required to submit their reopening plans to the state Department of Education by Friday. They needed to submit three different plans: a full reopening, a hybrid plan and a full remote option.

Superintendents received a letter from SDE Commissioner Miguel Cardona reminding them that a full reopening plan was required to be submitted to the state, according to the Connecticut Post. Under current state law remote learning programs wouldn’t count as school days. Hamden Public Schools will submit all three options, but the district plans to start with a hybrid model from the start since less than 50 percent of parents said they would send their children to in-person school under a full reopening, but 80 percent said they would send their children if they were under the hybrid plan.

Parents can opt to have their children attend remotely. Overall around 15 to 20 percent of parents across the state have said they intend to keep their children home, Lamont said.

State Sen. Will Haskell (D-Westport) wrote a letter to Lamont asking him to allow virtual classes to count toward the state’s mandated minimum of school days.

"It is clear to me and many of my constituents that social distancing in secondary schools while at full capacity presents unique challenges, including crowded hallways, students moving between classes, lunch scheduling and more,” Haskell said. “In that light, I ask that you give local school districts full latitude to make decisions that will keep students and teachers safe."

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