The rising price tag of going back to school

A recent New York Times op-ed, discussing school reopening and the possibility of a coronavirus resurgence, concluded that “schools need to face reality now, make a plan and stick to it.” This erroneous implication that schools or school districts have the ultimate responsibility to ensure safety pervades Connecticut’s approach to plans for the upcoming school year.

Connecticut has mandated that school districts develop reopening plans with three models: full physical reopening, a hybrid model, and remote learning. Each district plan must include, among other things: remote learning for students who elect to remain at home; hiring a liaison to communicate ever-changing COIVD information; maximizing space to ensure adequate distancing “when feasible;” complying with the Department of Public Health guidelines regarding proper cleaning and disinfecting, and adequate water and ventilation systems; isolating infected individuals; training on safe practices; cohort systems and other methods of ensuring safe teaching; ensuring students who need meals receive theirs safely; provide for different transportation scenarios depending on the level of community infection; and considering the unique needs of each student, including students with disabilities, emerging bilingual students, students who may need de-escalation strategies, students who cannot wear personal protective equipment, etc. District must also figure out a way to provide full curriculum including physical education, the arts and career and technical education. In addition, the state requires district to be flexible in the event of changing conditions.

As some districts have noted, the state’s directive lacks clear guidelines. Some unanswered questions are what level of transmission would result in shifting models, and what protocol to use if an individual tests positive? One district noted that instructing districts to maintain six feet of distance “where feasible” “is poor guidance and undermines confidence in state level decision making.”

It is possible to craft more explicit guidelines. Indeed, the Connecticut Education Association released a Safe Learning Plan (https://bit.ly/3hXnPom ), with specific essential preconditions to a safe physical reopening of public schools, drawing from available documents from public health experts in Connecticut as well as the Centers for Disease Control and the National Academy of Sciences.

There is no mention of providing adequate state funding to ensure a safe reopening. Gov. Ned Lamont has been evasive about just how much state or federal money will be provided to school districts to fund their mandated plans.

One of the glaring unanswered questions in the state’s directive is how to pay for any of the reopening models. The state instructs districts to “develop funding scenarios to support the multiple areas that may require increased funding” and to maximize access to available federal funding.

There is no mention of providing adequate state funding to ensure a safe reopening. Gov. Ned Lamont has been evasive about just how much state or federal money will be provided to school districts to fund their mandated plans. In a recent reopening survey of districts by the State Department of Education (SDE), one district noted that “(w)e are eagerly awaiting confirmation on whether or not funding will be provided from the State.”

In response to the SDE’s survey, Connecticut districts estimate it will cost at least $420 million in additional dollars to reopen in the fall. Districts emphasized that these figures are preliminary and do not consider all the costs they will face, such as providing additional social and emotional support to students traumatized by COVID. Districts noted that over the past several years, they have suffered funding cuts resulting in cuts to essential educational resources. These recent cuts exacerbate the state’s persistent underfunding of Connecticut’s public school districts, particularly our neediest.

And many districts have endured even more cuts to local budgets this year as a result of the pandemic. They report that they simply cannot fund adequate space, personal protective equipment, appropriate ventilation and many of the other basic requirements for in-person learning. Nor do they have adequate funding to ensure the quarter of Connecticut students who did not appear for remote learning are able to engage this year should school be conducted remotely.

While districts struggle financially, the Connecticut Mirror reports that the state’s coffers are increasing. Connecticut’s rainy day fund increased from 2.5 billion to 2.8 billion since the pandemic, and tax receipts are $200 million higher than estimated. The Lamont administration has spent hundreds of millions of dollars less than was expected and possibly needed on vital public services. Moreover, Americans for Tax Fairness reports that Connecticut’s billionaires grew richer during the pandemic.

The Connecticut Supreme Court has affirmed that “a safe and secure environment ... is an essential element of a constitutionally adequate education” that the state must provide. By failing to guarantee adequate funding and guidance for districts to operate their schools safely, the state is abdicating its constitutional responsibility.