Coronavirus CT: Schools Need To Plan For Possible Closures

CONNECTICUT — The state Department of Education is urging primary and secondary school districts across the state to start thinking about how education can continue if schools need to be shut down due to coronavirus concerns. A second positive case was confirmed in Connecticut Monday.

Meanwhile, one private college has announced online-only classes for a couple of weeks and other colleges are considering or have already cancelled out-of-state athletic events in the near future.

“Should it become necessary to consider closing one or more schools, that decision will not be made in a silo,” the state education department said in an updated memo to local school district leaders. “Absent an emergency declaration from the Office of the Governor or Federal government, school closures are local decisions made by the school district in coordination with and at the direction of the local health officials.”

Related: Coronavirus CT: 2nd Positive Case Confirmed

To prepare, superintendents should review their School/District Safety and Security Plans, and plan with their local health officials to coordinate communication should a decision about school closures be necessary, state officials said in an updated memo.

State law allows the Connecticut State Board of Education to authorize a shorter school year where there are emergency circumstances. Schools should exhaust all other options to make up any lost school days, state officials said. (Don't miss updates in Connecticut concerning the Coronavirus as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.)

Some schools have already made preparations. New Canaan Public Schools had a two-hour delay for students in order to give staff time to prepare material for a long-term closure. Weston Public Schools will be dismissing students early for the same reason. Norwalk Public Schools will be closed Thursday for students in order to prepare remote-learning materials, and Westport Public Schools is also delaying Tuesday's opening for COVID-19 prep.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) announced that for now state tournaments schedules aren't being changed due to the coronavirus.

Plan For Distance Learning?

School closure does not have to mean a total loss of instructional/learning time, officials said. Therefore, the CSDE recommends that districts plan now to have "some high quality, distance-learning opportunities that could be employed in the event of a school closure due to COVID-19."
"...Distance learning may be differentiated depending on student access to technology or need for special resources, and teams should consider accommodations and other accessible materials."

Approach

Distance learning opportunities may be digitally based (e.g., online learning) and/or print-based (e.g., structured printed learning materials sent home in advance). These two approaches do not have to be mutually exclusive, officials said.

The extent to which a particular medium (digital and/or print) is used in the design of a learning opportunity will depend on the infrastructure available in the school community, especially 1:1 technology capacity and internet access in the students’ homes.

The nature of the learning opportunity may also differ based on the grade range. For example, online learning may be more feasible in the upper grades, while print-based learning materials may be more suitable in the elementary grades.

Content

The content of these learning opportunities is another consideration. For example, anticipate in advance the need to plan activities and materials that are not directly tied to the scope and sequence of the curriculum.

Developing general materials tied to grade-level learning expectations will allow flexibility depending on the timing of a potential closure.
For additional support and technical assistance in creating such a “Distance Learning Plan” for your district, we encourage you to contact your Regional Educational Service Center (RESC).
Staff

The CSDE strongly recommends that district leaders work in close partnership with their local unions in the design, development, and implementation of distance learning opportunities. The training and ongoing support of classroom teachers is vital to the effectiveness of such efforts.

Should a school closure impact student teaching or clinical placements, the CSDE will work with Educator Preparation Programs to address program completion requirements.

Coronavirus and CT

Connecticut had its first confirmed presumptive positive case of the new coronavirus disease Sunday. A Wilton resident between the ages of 40 and 50 is being treated at Danbury Hospital, Lamont said. The person likely was infected during a trip to California. A New York State resident who is an employee at Danbury Hospital also tested positive for the disease as well as a community physician from New York who made rounds at Bridgeport Hospital.

There are more than 600 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. as of Monday afternoon with 22 deaths, according to John Hopkins University, which is monitoring data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other sources.

Related: Coronavirus CT: Updates On School And State Response (3-9-2020)

Colleges

Private schools and universities are also updating their policies. Sacred Heart University, a private university in Fairfield announced that classes will be suspended March 10 to give time to prepare online classes. The school will move to online classes March 11 through March 29. There have been no reported infections in the school community.

“Students are welcome to stay on campus and residence and dining halls will remain open,” the university said in a statement. “Effective immediately through March 29 all major events on campus will be cancelled.

The state college system which oversees community colleges and regional universities announced that it would follow Gov. Ned Lamont’s lead when it comes to limiting out-of-state travel and large-scale gatherings.

Southern Connecticut State University has cancelled all trips outside of Connecticut through March 22 including games for baseball, gymnastics, softball and women’s lacrosse. The school will review future athletic competitions in the coming weeks.

On Saturday, Western Connecticut State University officials announced the school is cancelling all out-of-state athletic, academic and student club travel at least through spring break. The university's administration is also "strongly" discouraging all students, faculty, and staff from personal travel outside of Connecticut during the break.

The University of Connecticut remains on normal operations and regular academic and workplace schedules have not changed. UConn suspended school-related travel to high-risk nations including China, Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan. The school is encouraging students and staff to postpone non-essential domestic and foreign travel for both professional and personal reasons.