Schools confident as in-person classes begin
HARTFORD — Hartford schools began a new year Monday with a return to fully in-person learning, a bold step in the district’s plan to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic even as cases of the delta variant surge.
The public school system that serves more than 17,600 students in the Hartford region must also contend with many families’ deeprooted concerns with the COVID19 vaccines. The capital city still has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state, with just 42% of residents fully vaccinated as of Aug. 18.
Around the state, public health is also threatened by a growing movement to end mask requirements in schools despite research providing evidence of the effectiveness of masks in slowing the spread of COVID-19. On Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont had to be escorted by security out of a Cheshire school after dozens of parents protesting mask mandates disrupted a backto-school event.
The next day, addressing educators, students and families in a socially distanced auditorium, Hartford superintendent Leslie Torres-rodriguez acknowledged that many people’s optimism for the coming year may be tinged with anxiety and uncertainty.
“It’s hard. Please remember that we’ve been there before. This is actually the third school year teaching and learning in a pandemic environment,” Torres-rodriguez said. “That means that yes, as educators, as leaders, as support staff, we have to be extra mindful of the stress — our stress, of our peers. It also means we have so much experience and learnings that we can lean on.”
Last school year, schools in Hartford and around the state experimented with shifts between in-person and remote learning, hybrid models that split students into cohorts with alternating schedules and temporary closures following positive cases of COVID-19.
In Hartford, chronic absenteeism exploded during the pandemic as COVID-19 protocols, changing schedules and distance learning rendered schools unrecognizable. At its peak in January 2021, nearly half of all students were chronically absent — both in person and online.
Some students entering first grade this year will be going to physical school buildings for the first time, after starting their education from behind computers screens at home, Hartford’s 2021 Teacher of the Year Victoria Shears pointed out during the district’s convocation last week.
“This matters,” Shears said. “Yes, school is a place for high-quality instruction, rigor and best practices. But especially this year, it should be a place for friendship, perseverance, hard work, connections, safety, love, support and, of course, emotions.”
Torres-rodriguez held a brief moment of silence for all that community members have endured over the last 18 months, and in particular for those who experienced losses from any of three crises: the pandemic, its economic fallout and the lasting impacts of social and racial injustice.
Looking ahead, she said she was confident Hartford’s 39 public schools have the talent and commitment to meet this moment.
“If we learned anything last year, it’s that we can adapt and we can change to meet the needs of our students. We know because we lived it,” Torres-rodriguez said. “Change was hard. And we also know there’s more change ahead.”