‘Red zone’ label doesn’t mean city school buildings will close
STAMFORD — Stamford is now a COVID “red zone,” according to the state, after a recent rise in coronavirus cases that caused local officials to move the city back to Phase II precautions that were in place until earlier this month.
For many parents in Stamford, the retreat raised questions about the future of schools, specifically whether the district would again
close buildings and return to full-time distance learning for all students.
School officials this week indicated the district is not at the point where that might happen.
Superintendent Tamu Lucero said cases in Stamford schools have been spread out across multiple buildings.
“I know that the Stamford Department of Health has notified each school individually and is watching our numbers closely, by classroom, by building and across the district,” she said in a written comment. “I’m told that more than half of our schools were impacted this week, meaning there are no large number of cases in any one building.”
The state Department of Education has a higher threshold for its “high risk” designation than the state’s “red zone” classification for towns and cities.
The state Department of Public Health places cities and towns in the red if their rate of daily COVID cases per 100,000
residents reaches 15 or more.
In contrast, the Department of Education calls for “less in-person learning” in schools once the rate reaches 25 cases a day or more per 100,000.
The latest figures from the state show the city of Stamford at a rate of 15.6 for a two-week period that ended on Oct. 24.
Over the last two weeks, Stamford schools have experienced three COVID cases per day inside the school community of roughly 18,750 staff and students. In all, 17 schools in the district have reported a case of the virus since school began in early September.
The state’s guidelines say school districts should be vigilant if their community is deemed a red zone.
“At this level of community spread, district administrators and local health directors should be engaged together to discuss the robustness of current mitigation strategies in school buildings and to consider what new strategies or changes in learning models is appropriate,” reads one of the guidelines in the state’s school reopening plan.
“However, the level of community spread that would prompt action in non-school community settings is not necessarily indicative of a need for schools to suspend in-person learning,” the guideline reads.
Nonetheless, many parents have taken to social media to ask when and if Stamford schools will return to full remote learning. Some also have complained that information is not always easily attained.
Gina Calabrese is the mom of a student at Rogers International School, and she said finding certain information on the school’s website has been a struggle.
For example, her son was sick this week, and Calabrese said she could not find information related to what would allow her son to return to classes since he did not have COVID-19.
After speaking to a nurse, she was directed to a page on the Centers for Disease Control’s website, she said. But she wanted to know what the district’s policy was in terms of a return to classes. She said she eventually found it in a letter from
Lucero, thanks to a fellow parent who shared it with her.
“I think the schools need to have better communication about their policies and make that information accessible,” Calabrese said. “I should be able to go to the school or district website and get that information.”
Mayor David Martin released a reverse 9-1-1 call this week stating that the number of positive cases of the virus in Stamford reached 188 over the previous seven days, an indication that the city’s 14-day rate is likely to increase when the state updates the figures next week.
The city’s move back to Phase II allows fewer people to gather inside restaurants, libraries and other venues, and places stricter limits on private gatherings.
“This is a difficult decision but every indicator we’re monitoring suggests we’re at the beginning of a second wave,” Martin said in a written statement. “Unfortunately, this means we must change our behavior immediately. This second wave is no longer speculative or a possibility, it is happening right now.”
Stamford joined Danbury,
Norwalk and Bridgeport as the four municipalities in Fairfield County to be considered red zones, though rates in those three cities are higher than in Stamford.
In Norwalk, where the rate per 100,000 is 35, an entire elementary school and half of a Catholic school were switched to remote learning due to COVID-19 cases.
Danbury schools were hoping to have students return to inperson classes this week, but decided to postpone the reopening date due to rising rates. The rate of infections per 100,000 residents in Danbury is 22.
In her weekly letter to the community, Lucero urged everyone to stay vigilant.
“We will only be able to reduce the spread if we all continue to work together and practice good hand hygiene, social distancing, and proper wearing of face coverings, not only when on our school campuses but also when out in the community,” she said.