Sen. Berthel on Reopening School Activities: ‘It’s about the development of skills.’ [CT Post]

Article as it appeared in the CT Post

When a Stratford school employee testing positive for the coronavirus was reported on Tuesday, the announcement came a day later in a letter sent home to parents.

Schools did not close. The mayor was not even immediately informed.

In Shelton, a high school staffer exhibited COVID-19 symptoms. That person and two other district employees who came into contact with the individual were all out awaiting test results.

An email was sent to staff and parents, but in-class learning went on as planned.

In New Milford on Wednesday, a positive test for the virus among “a member of the school community” led to the closure of all five schools in the district and reverting to distance learning for two days.

“The main reason I closed the entire district is because four of the five schools were impacted,” Interim Superintendent Paul Smotas said Thursday. It is believed the affected person had siblings in other schools.

Situations vary, but in nearly all cases, school districts were using the same playbook to guide their decisions — recent guidance issued from the state in late August that suggests various considerations and actions to take based on the number of cases and where they occur.

As the school year completes its first or second week, depending on the town, systems are treating isolated cases entirely differently. Guidance from the state is voluntary and general, and Gov. Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona both seem willing to leave it that way.

That leaves school superintendents with hard decisions to make with each new case that arises — whether or not those cases are traced back to the schools, or are part of identifiable clusters.

“At the end of the day, they’re going to all follow the guidance but come to their own conclusions based on the guidance,” said Max Reiss, spokesman for Lamont.

Earlier this week, Lamont said even without an executive order, the state seems to be getting a pretty good tally of positive tests involving schools. Right now, he said the number of infections tied to schools remains very low.

“We have guidance, but we’re leaving that up to the local superintendents,” Lamont said. “Again, it sort of depends on how much exposure that particular student had to the wider universe. … That’s our strong advice, but we leave it up to the superintendents.”

Lamont said he sees no need to close a school if an exposure was discovered in one particular class.

Like much of the administration’s efforts to slow down the coronavirus, Lamont has moved cautiously in the incremental statewide reopening, while giving local school districts some autonomy in how to address the unprecedented public-health challenges.

State Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown, ranking member of the legislative Education Committee, said Thursday that while reopening in-school learning is a top goal, so should other school experiences, from choirs and bands, to football.

“Our school systems have the challenge and the responsibility of providing well-rounded education,” Berthel said. “We are preparing them for the future. It’s not just about the game. It’s about the development of skills.”

Berthel acknowledged that keeping schools open is critical.

“I know the 10 towns and seven school systems in my district have all gone to extraordinary lengths so that they could open this week and give a level of confidence to students, parents, teachers, administrators, bus drivers, everyone,” Berthel said. “And kudos to them. They spent the entire summer trying to get that done.”

But full safety from the virus is an illusory goal.

Schools across the state have just begun the 2020-21 school year and none are requiring students and staff to be tested like many residential colleges.

In Stratford, the case of a Second Hill Lane Elementary School staffer who tested positive was reported by the district’s school nurse supervisor in consultation with the local health department. The process followed was spelled out in the district’s reopening plan and based on state guidance. In New Milford, officials reportedly learned about the positive case through an Instagram post.

In Bridgeport, there have been no reported cases of the virus among the school community of 20,000 students and 3,000 employees. Last week, when asked, Schools Superintendent Michael Testani said he would definitely report it out.

Peter Yazbak, a state Department of Education spokesman, said his department worked with the Department of Public Health to develop and issue the guidance to districts.

The two-pager offers various scenarios and courses of action.

For instance, if a COVID case is confined to one classroom, and cohorting is in place, the advice is to quarantine just that class for 14 days, or anyone that spent more than 15 minutes with the infected individual.

If a school has two or more cases within a two-week period in different classrooms, that might warrant closing the school for 14 days.

If a school sees two or more cases within 14 days, linked together through a school activity but involving people who are in different classrooms or cohorts, local officials may close the school for 14 days.

The idea was to provide a uniform approach and criteria for responding to and addressing how schools should handle positive cases and closures, Yazbak said.

Reiss said medical professionals have led training sessions so local school administrators can “effectively implement these protocols and use various community-based COVID-19 metrics to help inform the local decision-making process.”

“This binding guidance balances epidemiology with the fact that local circumstances should be considered when districts make decisions, in consultation with their local health officials, on how best to respond to COVID-19 scenarios in their schools,” Reiss said in a statement on Thursday.

Michael Fiorello, president of the Stratford Education Association, the district’s teachers union that has taken issue with some of the reopening practices, said he is thankful that the decision on how to handle positive cases in his district are being made in consultation with health care leaders and based on safety and caution.

In announcing someone in the “school community” tested positive, Acting Monroe Schools Superintendent Joseph Kobza told families they worked with local and state health officials to conduct contact tracing.

He did not say which school was involved, but indicated parents of students who may have been exposed were contacted. Monroe schools have remained open to in-person classes.

In Norwalk, when a staffer at Kendall School tested positive for the coronavirus two weeks ago, causing an undisclosed number of teachers to be quarantined, it was the second time in two months the district has needed to react to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Norwalk High School was closed for a few days of summer school after a staffer tested positive for the coronavirus.

In the most recent case, the impacted employees self-quarantined and the new school year started on time for everyone else.

“Norwalk Public Schools has a thoughtful and thorough plan in place to support our return to in-person instruction, but any plan for 2020-21 will require ongoing patience and flexibility,’ Norwalk officials said in a statement. “We will continue to carefully move forward to provide a safe and effective return to school, while keeping the health and safety of our students and staff in mind.”

Since schools began opening last week, cases have also been reported in Newington, Waterbury, Naugatuck and in other Connecticut school districts.

In Naugatuck, after a senior tested positive, high school students were sent home early one day this week. The school has since remained closed.

In Shelton, Acting Schools Superintendent Beth Smith said her first step was to contact the Naugatuck Valley Health Department and the district’s COVID-19 liaison.

The impacted staff member and two other employees were told to stay home.

“All procedures and protocol have been and will continue to be followed,” Smith wrote. “Further action, including contract tracing, if necessary, will occur.”