Letter To The Editor: A Parent & Teacher's Perspective On Covid Delays

To the Editor:

I am both a parent and teacher in the Fairfield school system. I am also an unaffiliated voter in Fairfield.

I agree with Mr. Farnen that our children’s full return to school this past year was positive and that utilizing the best science to determine masking in schools is always best practice. What I
want to shed some light on is the rationale behind some of the delays in a full return to school.

As I am sure Mr. Farnen is aware, Connecticut has a higher standard for air quality in our animal
shelters than we have in our schools. In other words, the law requires us to provide a certain level of care for our abandoned animals that is higher than the standard we hold for our students. Under normal circumstances this air quality issue is problematic (i.e. taking exams in a room exceeding 95 degrees or teachers having to discard stacks of textbooks that have been destroyed by mold). When COVID hit, our lack of proper HVAC and air quality standards created a huge obstacle in bringing our children back to school fully within guidelines of the CDC. Advocating for clean air in our buildings would have been impactful in expediting our students returning to full-time in-person school.

For this purpose, teachers- through the Connecticut Education Association- strongly advocated for legislation to increase air quality standards in our schools. With the support of most of our Democratic legislators, legislation was passed to provide districts funds for HVAC upgrades and require regular air quality inspections in order to keep our students and our schools safe and healthy. While legislators didn't pass legislation requiring specific temperature and humidity standards, they did approve $150 million in the budget bill for HVAC upgrades in schools in order to keep our students safe and healthy. This final bill to fund HVAC upgrades passed with only two Republican votes in the senate and no Republican support in the house. During this past session, Mr. Farnen didn't submit any written or verbal testimony to the Education Committee on any of their proposals nor to support investments in cleaner air quality for our students.

On a local level, prior to COVID the Fairfield Education Association met with Republican leadership in town to discuss several issues, one of which was air quality concerns in our schools. At that time we were told that HVAC upgrades were not an immediate priority.

I hope this information helps clear up any misconceptions around the reasons for delayed returns to in person learning. I appreciate that in his letter Mr. Farnen has expressed support for the LGBTQ plus community. However, I find his use of the word "extreme" in this context concerning. How can supporting a student’s fundamental right to exist be extreme?
Among our children’s most fundamental rights should be the right to breathe clean air in school and to be embraced and accepted as they are by their public schools.

Ingrid Baron
Fairfield, CT