CT officials: Districts need in-school plans

For some time, parents and school districts have been assured they can keep their kids home for distance learning in the fall should they chose — and districts have been advised to come up with three distinct reopening plans: complete in-school instruction, a hybrid model and total remote learning.

However, a letter from Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona to school superintendents this week states that “current statutes do not anticipate that remote learning programming “counts” toward the required number of days in

school year.”

In addition, school districts have been told that plans that have students in school for only part of the week under their full inschool instruction scenario simply are not acceptable.

“Any plan submitted to the Connecticut State Department of Education on July 24, 2020, that does not include a full reopening option as one of the three models, where all public school students have the opportunity to access school in person five days a week, will not be in compliance with current state laws regarding the number of school days,” the letter states.

Specifically, “Excluding public school students for certain days of the week (for example, having certain grades only attend school on Mondays and Tuesdays, with remote learning the other days) is not appropriate under the first model.”

That would seem to call into question the Greenwich Public Schools’ draft reopening plan that calls for no more than 50 percent of high school students on campus at a time for face-to-face instruction — even if the transmission risk to COVID-19 is deemed low.

Since Greenwich High is one of the largest schools in the state, Superintendent Toni Jones is hoping the state shows some flexibility.

“We are concerned that the CSDE is standing firm for a full return to Greenwich High School,” Jones said Thursday. “However, we are working through what logistical considerations would need to be made. We are still working to communicate with the state to see if a hybrid approach would be possible, especially given the enrollment and building capacity of GHS.”

In Hamden, Schools Superintendent Jody Goeler said the district will submit the three required plans on Friday, but only because of the requirement. The Hamden school board strongly backs beginning the school year with a hybrid model that allows students to rotate in and out of school.

So do parents. Fewer than 50 percent of Hamden parents surveyed say they intend to send their children to school in the fall if it is five days a week, but four out of five told the district they would participate in a hybrid model that had children switching out between home and school.

“We believe more parents will send their children to school with a hybrid plan, as we will be able to follow all CDC guidelines,” Goeler said. “Teacher surveys indicate a much stronger preference for the hybrid plan as well.”

Districts all have until Friday to submit fall reopening plans to the state.