Additional state funds allay some school reopening concerns

NEW HAVEN — When New Haven was the lone municipal school district in the state to opt for a fully remote start to school in the fall — deciding against offering in-person learning options because of ongoing pandemic concerns in a 4-3 vote — state officials took interest.

To help persuade the Board of Education to open school doors to students as soon as possible, state

Department of Education officials Thursday offered an additional $5.3 million from a Coronavirus Relief Fund announced by Gov. Ned Lamont to provide additional safety measures.

“We’re walking in the right direction,” said school board member Larry Conaway, who proposed the motion earlier this month that the district go to a remote learning model for the first 10 weeks of school.

Three school board members and a state education department spokeswoman confirmed the state offered to allocate an additional $5.3 million to address the concerns of the school board’s members. The district already has received $8.5 million from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act to fund safety measures within schools during the pandemic, although officials said some of that money must be spent on charter and parochial schools.

In July, Lamont and Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona said they would support school districts in whatever they decide is best, although they have repeatedly stressed their desire to see an option for students to learn in person.

The state Department of Education convened an “exception review panel” to meet with school board members Tuesday, reminding them of what is at risk if there is no in-person instruction with live educators. They argued the 15 percent of students identified for special education services may fall behind and the 17 percent of students designated as English learners may struggle. They said only 30 percent of students in the

springtime were “fully engaged” with their education, regularly participating in instruction and completing assignments; the flipside of the figure Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey provided for school board members — that only 10 percent were fully disengaged or disconnected.

Three school board members who voted for Conaway’s measure to begin school remotely — Conaway, Darnell Goldson and Tamiko Jackson-McArthur — said they are sure that school will begin remotely on the planned reopening date of Sept. 3. However, they all said they hope there can be a phase-in process before 10 weeks, possibly between the fourth or sixth week of school.

“We asked the staff to cost out all of the items and concerns we’ve listed for them,” said Goldson.

That list, which was obtained by the Register, is three pages and raises specific concerns about things such as masks, transportation and COVID-19 testing that board members did not believe were adequately addressed in the district’s planning. The main points address how the district can maintain physical distancing; testing, tracing and isolating for new cases of COVID-19; preventing virus spread; and community involvement in planning.

“We would have a probable four- to five-week phase-in, waiting for the safety materials to get there, making sure teachers are coming first and parents are trained for the remote piece and to make sure everybody is comfortable with the safety measures we put in place, busing, the whole thing,” Goldson said. “We’ve got to see what the numbers look like, to make sure the $5 million covers those safety measures. Our No. 1 concern is safety.”

Conaway said his intention with his vote for 10 weeks of remote learning was never to prevent the possibility of a return, but to ensure proper safety precautions were in place.

“I’ve never wanted to just close the schools down. I just want schools to open up safely for students and teachers and the New Haven community. That’s always been my goal: safety, safety and more safety,” he said.

Jackson-McArthur, a physician, said her vote for remote learning was always more of a vote recognizing the district’s lack of preparedness than her desire to deny an in-person option. She said she feels the state has taken board members’ concerns seriously. She said board members were shown schematics of a socially-distanced classroom, and she believes that if survey data is correct and roughly half of the district’s 21,000 students will opt for in-person instruction, it would be possible to maintain social distancing.

She said state officials explained that, of the $5.3 million, about $1 million would be designated for transportation and $1 million would be for educational support. Jackson-McArthur said she inquired about the possibility of using the money to support “learning hubs,” where students learn in small groups outside of schools; she said the answer she received Thursday was not definitive.

Jackson-McArthur said the state also promised more than 11,000 personal devices, which she believes could fully supplement the devices the district has available for loan to provide every student with a computer for distance learning.

“I think we’re in good shape,” she said.

The school board is due to vote

on its reopening model — for the third time, but the first since the state announced additional financial support — Monday. The board members who initially favored 10 weeks of remote learning said they would change their votes to support a phase-in to a hybrid model — but only if they’re convinced it’s safe.

“We already technically voted that we could do remote for 10 weeks,” Conaway said. “Now we’re trying to close that gap a little.”

“Our concerns were always around safety whether they had a full return, a hybrid return or remote. The administration said they couldn’t provide masks for students, could not do testing, could not provide monitors on buses, could not monitor bus stops. All the things we asked them to fix, they said they could not do it because they did not have the financial resources to fix,” Goldson said.

The district committed $1.1 million of its federal CARES Act money to personal protective equipment, such as masks — stockpiling about 100,000 masks but encouraging families to bring their own.

On Thursday, before board members met with the state, Mayor Justin Elicker sent an email to the city indicating his support for a hybrid model, an apparent contradiction with what the fourmember majority of the school board previously had voted.

Members of the school community have said the lack of clarity is confusing.

“I think a compromise is the way to go. This way all the schools will be ready and the teachers and families will have time to adjust,” said Beth Hoffman, a sixth-grade language arts and social studies teacher at Bishop

Woods School. “They have had us in limbo for way too long. We’re all very stressed and the school year hasn’t even begun yet.”

Parent Jill Kelly, an organizer for the NHPS Advocates, said she believes high school should be entirely remote, but it could be possible to bring in young students and students with special needs in low-density environments, possibly using the vacant high schools to ensure more distancing. She said a plan to phasein students slowly, after an initial delay to see how the public health data changes, is “a wise approach.”

The Rev. Boise Kimber, president of the Greater New Haven Clergy Association and senior pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church, said he believes no matter what the school board decides that they will not be ready to reopen.

“They’ve had five months or better to put a plan together, and they still have not put a plan together,” he said. “This district is not prepared for virtual learning. They don’t know how to do it. They’d rather put students, faculty and workers in harm’s way.”

He said 17 churches have signed on to a pact to be available to students, providing internet access for those who need it. Additionally, he said wealthy suburbs such as Greenwich have plans, whereas New Haven is lacking.

“If they don’t come up with something, I believe we will not have any school this year,” he said.

Both Tracey and school board President Yesenia Rivera declined to comment on the pending vote on the instructional model until after Monday’s meeting.