Ridgefield Schools Await Guidance On Mask Mandate

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Absent any new guidance from the state, coronavirus mitigation practices, including masks and social distancing, would remain in effect for students in Ridgefield public schools next year, according to the first draft of the district's "Safe Return" plan. Remote and hybrid learning will not be an option, however.

The Connecticut state Department of Education has mandated that each district submit their plans to keep the coronavirus in check in their schools come September. The Ridgefield Public Schools released a draft of "Safe Return to In-person Instructions and Continuity of Services Plan" online last week.

The plan as submitted to the state had to conform with guidelines provided by the Department of Education as of June 23, and there have not been many of those, according to Ridgefield Superintendent Susie Da Silva.

"It's all pending what the state requires," Da Silva told Patch. She said that if the state Department of Public Health affords districts the opportunity to make decisions on the local level, Ridgefield Public Schools will consider going in a different direction.

Da Silva said she is reticent to even discuss any options beyond the state's current requirements based upon the district's experience at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.

"We definitely learned this last summer: the last thing you want to do is communicate one thing and then have to backslide. It doesn't help parents, it doesn't help kids, it doesn't help faculty, if you end up having to undo."

The superintendent said she suspects the DPH has not provided information to districts yet because the state does not want to have to backtrack in its guidance, either. "And when we ask, it's never one hundred percent clear when we are going to get that information."

The Brookfield superintendent and Board of Education chair sent a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont last week requesting that the guidance to schools be expedited. It's a move the Ridgefield BOE may discuss during its next meeting on Monday, da Silva said.

The current plan is based on the "most accurate information I have" regarding the current state requirements, Da Silva said.

"Given the changing (but optimistic) trajectory of this pandemic, we will not know until later in the summer months exact answers to all health and safety mitigation strategies," Da Silva wrote in a letter to parents.

That draft doesn't show the district separating students into cohorts, as it did for the past school year. School officials say they will also "aim for three feet distance between students, and three to six feet where possible." Three feet distance may not be feasible in all environments/classrooms, according to the report.

Face shields would be made available to those staff members who work with students who are unable to wear masks due to the nature of their disability.

Hygiene remains a focus in the draft plan. Students and staff would still be asked to wash their hands regularly, and hand sanitizer will be made available throughout the district buildings. Daytime and evening custodial cleaning routines will continue, with an emphasis on "high touch point" areas.

The Public Schools will no longer be conducting COVID-19 screening, but contract tracing efforts will continue when a case of coronavirus occurs within the schools or at a school event. The district will continue to use the COVID-19 Data Tracker website to update the community of case rates, and quarantine impacts.

Students and staff with symptoms of COVID-19 would require isolation within the school building or campus prior to going home, according to the draft. Those who are vaccinated and are not displaying symptoms of the virus will not have to quarantine if they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. Unvaccinated students and staff will have to follow the state's quarantine guidelines.

"If the Connecticut Department of Public Health [allows] local decision-making around this, then we have the ability to make decisions otherwise," Da Silva said.

District officials say they will be reviewing and revising the procedures when necessary, and will distribute updates, at minimum, in August 2021, December 2021, June 2022, December 2022 and June 2023.