New Haven high school students set to return in person April 5

NEW HAVEN — After returning students into classrooms up to the eighth grade in two phases, school district officials Friday announced a plan to return high school students to in-person learning — if they so choose.

Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey said Wednesday that the district was waiting on the city to hire enough nurses so that all of the district’s schools could be adequately staffed. On Friday, she said there is no significance to the date of April 5 for a return for high schools, although it will come more than a month after teachers and other school workers became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine March 1.

Currently, some high schools are loaning their facilities to the city health department and other community health clinics as spaces to hold vaccination clinics. Mayor Justin Elicker said the city does not expect the reopenings

to have any impact on vaccination clinics.

“The planning around (James Hillhouse High School’s field house) Floyd Little was intended to avoid any conflict with school openings since the building is separated from the rest of the facility,” he said.

Elicker said vaccination clinic sites at Wilbur Cross High School and Hill Regional Career High School will be reevaluated as to whether the city must make any changes.

Schools closed their doors abruptly in March 2020 and high school students have been learning online since then.

The announcement for the planned return date for high schools came a day after students in grades six through eight returned to school.