Norwalk schools moving to full in-person classes
Following CDC guidance, city phasing out hybrid learning
NORWALK — City schools are rolling out full-time, in-person learning for middle and high schoolers following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control that advises students can safely sit closer together and would allow for more available classroom space.
“With this change, our district will be able to make more room available in classrooms for students,” Norwalk Public Schools spokesperson Brenda Wilcox Williams said Monday. “As a result, the hybrid option currently in place at the middle and high school levels will be discontinued.”
The CDC released new guidance on March 19 stating students can now sit at least 3 feet apart, as opposed to the original recommendation of 6 feet. Students are still recommended to keep 6 feet apart during other activities such as eating, singing or when in common spaces. Students and staff should continue to stay 6 feet apart as should any adult staff members when interacting with each other.
The district announced the planned rollout on March 22, adding that full remote learning will still be available to families. Masks will still be required for all students and staff, and all hand
washing, cleaning and other health protocols will remain in place. Six feet of distancing will still be required in common areas and when masks are off.
According to Wilcox Williams, all elementary school buildings will transition to 3 feet of distancing beginning March 29, with the exception of Silvermine Elementary School fourth- and fifth-graders at the Jefferson annex. These students will move back to the Silvermine building in April, with Silvermine fifth-graders moving over on April 5 and fourth-graders moving over on April 12 if space allows.
All middle schools will transition to 3 feet of distancing on April 5, and students in hybrid learning will move to full in-person instruction unless families opt to switch to full remote learning. All Norwalk high schools will make the same transition on April 19.
The plan, however, came as news to Norwalk Federation of Teachers President Mary Yordon, who said the union didn’t find out about this rollout until Monday. The group is looking into the details of the plan, such as how the district will be providing the recommended 6 feet of space between students and staff or between student cohorts.
“The union is learning about this with the rest of the district,” she said. “There’s been no prior consultation or discussion. This is all rolling out without any consultation. We understand there’s the CDC guidance and we’re interested in making sure there’s a careful adherence to the guidance.
Yordon noted the rollout will occur before all staff is fully vaccinated. Norwalk school staff began getting vaccinated earlier this month under Gov. Ned Lamont’s new rollout plan, which allowed people who work in schools to get vaccinated sooner.
Norwalk held a clinic on March 3 exclusively for school staff, but Yordon said most staff are not fully vaccinated yet and won’t be until next month when the district schedules followup clinics for second doses.
“I recognize we aren’t all vaccinated yet,” Yordon said. “We’re still operating in a pandemic and are eager to be safe. ... We were very enthusiastic about the school vaccinations and very grateful for the opportunity to be vaccinated on site.”
Norwalk Public Schools implemented a hybrid learning model for middle and high schoolers at the start of the 2020-21 school year while elementary school students were given the option to return to school full-time. The district began moving toward full in-person instruction for older students back in January when it announced students in middle and high school failing two or more subjects would be able to return full-time come February.
In late February, the district announced it would be expanding this option to more students in the middle and high schools, but the availability would depend on the space constraints of each individual school.
The CDC’s new guidelines also recommends student cohorts be kept 6 feet apart, and cohorts should be used in areas of substantial or high community transmission. As of March 19, Norwalk was still in “red alert” status, according to the state Department of Health, given that there are still more than 15 positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period.
According to the Norwalk Health Department, there were 26.4 cases per 100,000 people between Feb. 28 and March 13. The test positivity rate from Feb. 28 to March was 5.1 percent
The district began using a cohort system where possible at the start of the school year to keep small groups of students together to limit widespread exposure.