Vaccinate teachers now
State losing bank branches at more than twice the national rate
The most critical steps in opening schools safely and keeping them from having to shut down are to implement the CDC’s guidelines and vaccinate teachers.
Nearly a year after the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to shut down, no one is more eager for a full reopening than teachers, who understand the myriad advantages of in-person instruction and the hurdles of going remote. If we prioritize school reopening, however, we must prioritize vaccination of teachers.
In its latest guidelines on school reopening, the clearest yet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages states to prioritize teachers, maintaining, “Teachers and school staff hold jobs critical to the continued functioning of society and are a potential occupational risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2.” The agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that teachers and school staff be prioritized for vaccine allocation in phase 1b of the roll-out, underscoring that vaccinating teachers is a “layer of COVID mitigation and protection for both staff and students.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has likewise called for getting teachers vaccinated as quickly as possible, saying that prioritizing teachers is optimal to school reopening.
Not only will vaccinating teachers allow schools to reopen but also to stay open — and that is critical. Anyone who has had to pivot from in-person to remote instruction and hybrid models understands how challenging these shifts can be, and how disruptive to students, teachers and families alike. The primary reason Connecticut schools have had to close repeatedly throughout the pandemic is because of staffing shortages resulting from the need to quarantine. Under the CDC’s new guidance, however, individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID would not need to quarantine. Vaccinating teachers will allow schools to reopen safely and keep their doors open.
Fully vaccinating teachers, and therefore fully reopening schools, will also allow for a steadier reopening of Connecticut’s economy, as greater numbers of parents can return to work knowing that school staffing shortages and shutdowns are unlikely. The ripple effects of school closures due to COVID spikes and quarantines cannot be overstated; the same can be said for the positive impact of vaccinating teachers.
Updated CDC guidelines, of course, also continue to emphasize that the safe operation of in-person instruction is predicated on schools’ ability to maintain strict, universally required mitigation measures — something that many schools have been unable to do. The nation’s public health agency is clear that in communities with substantial COVID transmission, maintaining 6 feet of distance in K-12 schools is imperative — in the CDC’s own language, “nonnegotiable.” These and other critical measures were outlined in CEA’s Safe Learning Plan (cea.org/safe-learningplan/), a detailed report and set of recommendations issued at the start of the 2020-2021 school year. They remain as important as ever.
While more than half the states in the country have either vaccinated or prioritized their educators, Connecticut has not. Connecticut teachers, who have stepped up for their students while their own safety and that of their families remains at risk, have no idea when they might expect to receive the vaccine, even as schools remain open — often with outdated HVAC systems and no possibility of physical distancing — and more transmissible and dangerous coronavirus variants spread. Connecticut reported its first identified case of the deadliest known coronavirus strain, the South African variant, just recently.
To underscore the importance of expediting teacher vaccinations and the far-reaching effects such a move would have for Connecticut’s students, families, educators and entire communities, CEA has launched a statewide public awareness campaign: Vaccinate Educators Now. Featuring five Connecticut Teachers of the Year, from Bridgeport to Windsor, the campaign emphasizes the latest science-based guidance on school safety and urges the state to move forward with teacher vaccinations.
The most critical steps in opening schools safely and keeping them from having to shut down are to implement the CDC’s guidelines and vaccinate teachers. The time is now.
Connecticut is losing bank branches at a faster rate than the rest of the country.
And while customers are using online and mobile apps more and more to do their banking business, at least one industry analyst doesn’t see physical locations disappearing entirely.
Over the last decade, the number of bank branches in the state has dropped by 201 locations, for an overall closure rate of 16 percent, according to John Carusone, president of the Bank Analysis Center, a Hartford-based industry consulting firm. The national closure rate over the same period was 6 percent, Carusone said.
“Connecticut is a fiercely, fiercely competitive banking market,” he said. “There is just no room for any branches that can’t pull their own weight.”
Historically speaking, he said, Connecticut has been “over-branched and overbanked.”
At one point during the 1980s, there were 125 banks and financial institutions doing business in Connecticut, according to Carusone. Now, there are 56, he said.
“Connecticut still has roughly 25 percent more branches per household — or, alternatively, 25 percent fewer households per branch — than the U.S. as a whole,” Carusone said. “In other words, the Nutmeg State can still be said to be arguably more ‘over-branched’ than the rest of the country.”
Branch closings have come into sharper focus of late because some of the state’s largest banks have announced closures over the past several months.
In late December 2020, Webster Bank announced it was closing 16 branches in the state, including offices in Cheshire, Bethany and Hamden.
Kelly Raskauskas, a spokeswoman for the Waterbury-based bank, said Webster’s branches will close in phases to minimize disruption to customers, beginning in March and continuing through May.
“With the realignment of our customers and clients to nearby banking centers, the bankers currently staffing the identified locations will transition to other centers within the Webster network,” Raskauskas said.
Another large, Connecticut-based bank, People’s United, followed suit in January, announcing it would close most of its supermarket branches in Connecticut and New York.
Bridgeport-based People’s United has 84 branches located in Stop & Shop locations in Connecticut and 56 in New York. Officials with People’s United said they will not begin the supermarket branch closings until 2022.
Sara Longobardi, senior executive president in charge of retail banking with People’s United, said at the time that it was expected supermarket branch employees would be able to move into jobs at traditional locations nearby or transition into other roles within the company.
“We feel confident that there will be minimal job impact as a result of closing the in-store branches over the long-term,” Longobardi said.
Earlier this month, TD Bank announced it was closing six branches in Connecticut, including offices in West Haven and Woodbridge. Paige Wilkins, a TD Bank spokeswoman, said the goal is “to deliver an optimal mix of convenient ... locations and digital banking products and services that are second to none.”
“With those goals in mind, we regularly evaluate our existing TD Bank stores and new locations,” Wilkins said. “In reaching a decision to close specific TD Bank stores, we consider many business factors, including the number of customers visiting our stores, transaction volumes, the location’s proximity to other TD Bank stores and the number of customers who use multiple store locations.”
Raskauskas said Webster officials have seen customer preference for digital and mobile banking increase.
“Though this trend started well before the pandemic, its evolution has certainly been accelerated by COVID-19,” she said. “We’ve made investments in our digital banking channels to help customers with more online services.”
Many Connecticut consumers seemed comfortable with online banking and using mobile apps.
Neil Hutchins, a certified service dog trainer from Bethel, said he does 100 percent of his banking via a mobile app.
“It’s easy to use and I can keep track regularly,” Hutchins said when asked why he prefers using mobile banking. “Notifications are amazing. Also, as a service. I require ePayments and it makes transfers really simple.”
James Bulger of Cheshire said he uses Ion Bank’s mobile phone app to pay his bills.
“Once I loaded all the information for the bills and the account info, it’s seamless,” Bulger said. “I like it.”