'Not A Normal Situation': Families Rally For Remote Learning

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield students return to school in two weeks.

But, with no long-term remote learning offered by the school district, some immunocompromised parents and children remain unsure what the new academic year will hold for them as they struggle to choose from a variety of imperfect options amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re down to the wire,” said Rachel Kent, who has stage 4 tongue cancer and is mother to four children, ages 6 to 11.

Kent was among the roughly 25 Fairfielders who gathered Monday outside Sullivan Independence Hall to rally against the absence of remote learning for families who need it. With severe lung damage from cancer treatment and unsure if her body responded to the coronavirus vaccine, Kent’s options for her children’s education are limited after the district chose not to offer its Remote Learning Academy — developed in 2020 — for the new school year.

“I don’t know what else to do,” she said. “My children did amazingly well academically, and they even did well socially in RLA.”

The district’s ability to provide remote learning is hindered by state rules, according to Superintendent Mike Cummings.

“The state does not count remote learning for attendance purposes, and the district is prohibited by legislation from providing a long-term remote learning option instead of in-person instruction,” he said in an email, citing information posted on the district's website. “Where appropriate, students who are unable to attend school due to a verified medical reason should contact their school to discuss a Health Plan, 504 Plan, and/or IEP.”

The Board of Education signed a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont in June, asking, to no immediate avail, for an end to the school mask mandate and funding for a state-run remote academy.

The state Department of Education has been directed by legislation to make a plan to allow remote learning for high school students starting in July 2023, according to Director of Communications Eric Scoville.

“We have also been tasked with creating a Remote Learning Commission, which will study and come up with a plan for the possible creation of a statewide remote learning school in the future, and provide the plan to the General Assembly for their consideration and action,” he said in an email.

The Fairfield school board intends to develop policy to address how the district will approach remote learning in several scenarios, including for students with family members who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus.

“FPS will work with individual families to address their concerns in bringing students into schools,” Cummings said.

Among those in attendance at Monday’s protest was Wilton elementary school teacher and Fairfield resident Emily Staub.

“The kids are not vaccinated, it’s going to go around,” she said. “It just makes sense to have that remote option.”

Schools are preparing to reopen amid a surge in cases as the highly transmissible delta variant spreads across Connecticut.

“There’s a variant that can actually get past a vaccination and a mask,” said Roger Schulman, whose wife, Elizabeth Vienneau, has type 1 diabetes.

Their daughter, Macy Schulman, has asthma.

“It’s not a normal situation,” Roger said.

Macy attended school remotely last year. Now, the family is considering homeschooling or enrolling Macy in an online learning program.

Macy, 17, helped organize the rally with her boyfriend, Mason Yeoh, 16. The two met in school last year, in a remote English class.

“We need a remote option,” Macy said. “I’m nervous about going back to school.”

In Fairfield, just under 65 percent of the population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, but only about 61 percent of children ages 12-17 have received the vaccine in town, and even fewer — 53 percent — of adults aged 18-24 are vaccinated, according to state data. There is no vaccine option for children under 12, but Dr. John Schreiber of Connecticut Children's Medical Center predicted a vaccine from Pfizer could be available to all school-aged children as soon as the fall.

In the meantime, cases are on the rise in Fairfield. As of Monday, there was a total of 5,489 recorded coronavirus cases in town, an increase of 213 cases compared to a month prior, according to state data.

Like Macy, Mason also has an immunocompromised family member — his 26-year-old brother, Mitchell Yeoh, who has cancer and a cystic kidney disease. Mitchell has undergone two kidney transplants and a liver transplant in his young life.

Remote learning allowed Mason, who has autism, to continue with his classes and therapies, according to his mother, Lazeh Yeoh. But with no online summer school and Mason unable to attend in-person, his speech and mental health have declined, she said.

“The meltdowns increased, the speech decreased, he felt unmotivated,” she said.

Last week, special education staff at Fairfield Warde High School told Lazeh that the district couldn’t offer online learning, and that Mason would have to be homeschooled.

“It’s just common sense that an option be available for families,” said Mason’s father, Ian Yeoh. “We clearly cannot have in-person learning.”