Connecticut Post

As coronaviru­s turns Bridgeport red, city’s schools go hybrid

- By Linda Conner Lambeck

BRIDGEPORT — All but preschool and special needs students in the district have switched to a hybrid schedule, an effort school officials say they hope will reduce disruption­s as COVID-19 cases in the city rise.

“It seems to be working extremely well,” Schools Superinten­dent Michael Testani told his Board of Education on Monday during what has become a regular COVID update.

On Monday, students in kindergart­en through eighth grade joined high school students in rotating through school in person two days a week and spending three days in remote learning.

The scheduling switch had been planned for after Thanksgivi­ng but came sooner, in consultati­on with city health officials, after Testani said the city fell into the red zone.

Testani pointed to 289 new cases he said were reported by the city health department in the first week of November. Of those, he said 17 came from 14 schools and three day care centers but that only eight involved individual­s in city public schools.

The school district’s cumulative COVID-19 dashboard topped 114 positive cases on Wednesday, with 86 students and 28 staff members having tested positive for the virus since school started in September. Of the district’s 36 schools, 34 have been affected.

Districtwi­de, some 10,600 students — just over half of the total population — are attending school in person.

At one recent point, eight city schools were put on full remote learning because of positive cases. As of Tuesday, that number was at three with Columbus and Beardsley schools closed until Nov. 16 and Wilbur Cross School until Nov. 30.

Testani continues to maintain that being in school is the safest place for students to be as the pandemic wears on, but he said reducing the number of students in the classroom at one time will help with contact tracing.

Ana Batista, president of the Bridgeport Education Associatio­n, said on Tuesday that shifting to a hybrid model will at least lower the density in schools and make social distancing easier to honor.

“This is about health and safety,” Batista said. “Everyone is nervous.”

If it was up to her, all classes would be remote until the pandemic is over. Many of her membership agree, she said, and have questioned how closing decisions are made.

“We know that everyone wants kids to be in school but at the same time everyone wants to be safe,” Batista said. Some 90 percent of her work days this fall, she added, have been spent on COVID-related issues.

Before making the switch to a hybrid model, Testani told his board he consulted with other districts, including Stamford, where schools were already running on a hybrid model.

The Shelton interim superinten­dent announced Tuesday all of its schools would go fully remote until January because of rising COVID-19 cases.

Testani said he does not see Bridgeport schools going fully remote as they did last spring.

He referenced New Haven, which did not open its schools for in-person learning this fall, and suggested the transmissi­on there is no better than in Bridgeport.

For the last reported period of Oct. 18-31, Bridgeport had 735 positive cases among those tested for a 36.2 percent positivity rate. New Haven, during the same period, had 320 positive cases for a 17.5 percent positive rate, according to state health officials.

A better example would have been Danbury, which also ran schools fully remote this fall. Its positive case rate the last two weeks of October was 465, for a 39.2 percent positivity rate, even higher than Bridgeport’s.

In a recent letter to parents and staff, Testani explained measures taken when a positive case of COVID-19 is reported.

What some see as inconsiste­ncies, Testani said, is really administra­tors evaluating each situation case-by case.

He said he consults each time with city Health Director Lisa Morrissey and Lizette Earley, the district’s nursing supervisor. The affected person is told to stay home and self-isolate. Family members are instructed to self-quarantine and get tested, as are anyone considered to have been within 6 feet of the infected individual for 15 minutes or more.

Sometimes the infected individual has not been in school for days prior to testing. That factors into the district’s response, he said.

The school board Monday praised Testani’s handling of the crisis although not all agree schools should stay open. Board member Albert Benejan said he would just as soon see schools run fully remote.

Then the discussion went behind closed doors — at Testani’s request — to give the superinten­dent feedback on how he is handling the COVID-19 crisis.

Later, Board Chairman John Weldon said the session was to gain a better understand­ing of what Testani is going through in determinin­g when a school has to close.

“He acknowledg­ed it is stressful at times,” Weldon said. “He also acknowledg­es the success of handling things COVID-wise is a team effort among himself, his staff and building-level leadership.”

Batista said she believes Testani is doing the best he can and is listening. He attends roundtable­s with invited teachers, she said, adding that the next one is set for Thursday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States