COVID cases surge as schools reopen
Union: Many Conn. teachers prefer distance learning in pandemic
Districts across Connecticut are pushing forward with plans to return to a “normal,” in-person schedule in January amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, inadequate testing supplies, and record-breaking state positivity rates.
Yet, with cases climbing in Connecticut and not enough COVID tests to meet demand, some districts could possibly face a staffing shortage. This doesn’t just take teachers into account, but also workers essential to the safe and effective functioning of a district— kitchen staff, bus drivers, maintenance workers, and more.
“I do think that is a potential that we will face,” said Dr. Jody Terranova, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UConn Health
The week before winter break, the state already had an estimated 400 educators test positive for COVID-19 as the omicron variant spread its way through Connecticut, according to preliminary state data that was subject to change. The continued trend of positive tests and difficulty many have had in getting tested prompted the state’s largest teachers union surveyed members in recent days whether they would prefer the chance to teach remotely or in the classroom.
“Local union presidents have completed a survey regarding district protocols, and while we don’t have absolute agreement on every issue, it appears most prefer a remote option, with no dual instruction,” wrote Connecticut Education Association President Kate Dias in an email to members Thursday.
Dias cited the surging positivity rate, increasing number of pediatric cases, lack of consistent at-home testing protocols and inadequate supplies of N95 masks and at-home tests as she stressed “the need for stron
ger actions to protect our school communities.”
A full remote school schedule appears unlikely as schools set for a return this coming week, as Gov. Ned Lamont would have to issue an executive order to allow this to happen. So far, no districts have gone remote due to COVID concerns and the state has taken a clear stance on remote learning, insisting kids learn better in schools.
This position was reiterated in a statement sent to Hearst Connecticut Thursday by the state Department of Education.
Staffing concerns
On Wednesday morning, superintendents across Connecticut had been discussing various back-toschool plans on an email chain through the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents. At the time, their biggest concern was having enough staff to safely open schools come January.
No superintendents indicated plans to deviate from full in-person learning after the break as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Fran Rabinowitz, executive director of the CAPSS, who was on the email chain.
Rabinowitz said she believes schools are in constant contact with their staff and staying alert to any reported cases or expected absences.
Erin Daly, who heads Danbury’s teacher union, reported “severe” staffing shortages last week, telling Hearst Connecticut that teachers were “limping along to try and make it to the winter break.”
“Many of our members are reporting either currently having covid symptoms and unable to get a test, or testing positive for COVID,” Daly said on Thursday. “Another larger group of our folks is reporting having household members that are either confirmed positive or symptomatic and awaiting a test. This is beyond troubling and will have a serious staffing implication for next week.”
Terranova, the UConn doctor, already saw this scenario play out in other states with lower vaccination rates at the start of the school year.
“We saw that they just didn’t have teachers for the classrooms,” she said.
Connecticut could potentially face the same problem with the omicron variant.
This year, students and teachers have had to quarantine for 10 days if they test positive or are deemed a “close contact.” However, the requirement could change following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated five-day quarantine guidance released this past week.
Rabinowitz, however, said she was not getting any indication from superintendents that a temporary return to remote instruction will be necessary. Superintendents are aware of the situation and “will do anything that they need to do to ensure that there is enough staff safely in schools,” she said.
“Clearly, this pandemic is exhausting for everyone, and I think that educators, classroom teachers, superintendents, bus drivers have all been doing an incredible job to try and make sure that there is the opportunity for in-person learning in a safe environment,” said Patrice McCarthy, the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) deputy director and general counsel. “So it’s just a matter of continuing to adapt as the circumstances change.”
A temporary return?
From a public health perspective, Terranova said it probably makes the most sense to temporarily shift back to a short-term remote learning setup for two weeks to mitigate spread and give parents time to prepare.
Making the decision ahead of time would make it easier for parents to plan around the remote learning as opposed to an unexpected student quarantine, she said.
Both experts and educators say the ultimate goal is to keep kids in schools.
“We don’t want kids away from school for a long time,” Terranova added. “We know that that had some negative impacts [in 2020].”
Rabinowitz said districts “absolute goal for January 3” is to have enough staff to keep schools open.
While no districts have reported or indicated they will go to a remote setup in January, Rabinowitz said they would be “well prepared” if that did happen. Teachers’ unions were already talking about the possibility of a shift to remote ahead of winter break.
In Hartford, the school district canceled all student assemblies and concerts the week before their break, but stopped short of going fully remote. The Greenwich school district closed earlier than expected before the break due to rising cases.
New Milford Public Schools, which serves more than 3,700 children, sent a letter to parents ahead of winter break saying that the district planned to return to in-person learning Jan. 3, but there were no guarantees. As a precaution, students were told to bring home their laptop computers.
Changing protocols
The past several months have been marked by continued changes to some school protocols, while other policies — like masking — remain firmly in place. After a hopeful start to the 2021-2022 school year with a full in-person schedule, continued COVID waves have introduced speed bumps in the return to normalcy.
In December, some districts that had opted to participate in the state’s new Screen & Stay protocol paused the program after cases started rising again.
The program allows unvaccinated students who don’t have COVID-19 symptoms to stay in school even after exposure to a positive case.
Department of Education spokesman Eric Scoville said the department “continues to meet on a regular, ongoing basis with the Connecticut Department of Public Health to update and revise state guidance, as needed.”
“We are calling for consistent protocols and safety standards for testing and monitoring,” wrote Nancy Andrews, the state teachers union’s communications director.
CABE is continuing to advise districts to follow whatever state protocol is recommended or required.
“Whatever the information— the best protocols of the moment are — that’s what they should be using,” said CABE’s Patrice McCarthy.
But some medical experts predict the COVID-19 situation in Connecticut will likely get worse before it gets better. And with only 22 percent of kids aged five to 11 fully vaccinated, and around 67 percent of those 12 to 18 fully vaccinated, school-aged kids could start testing positive more frequently.
“The next couple weeks are going to be really tough for us,” said Terranova. “It’s not going to be any better— it’s probably going to be worse than where we are today.”
On Thursday, Connecticut hit a 20 percent positivity rate — its highest since data collection began.
“Kids will be going into a setting where they can easily spread this very contagious variant and don’t have the protection of vaccines,” she added.
For now, teachers are left waiting to see what the state and their local districts say— and whether protocol will change again.
“I don’t know what will come out [from the state] before next Monday,” CABE’s McCarthy added.
Sandra Chafouleas, the Neag Endowed Professor of Educational Psychology at UConn said that educators are trying hard to maintain a semblance of routine for students in part because of the importance consistent routines play in promoting mental and emotional health.
“As humans, our ability to cope with uncertainty is being pummeled,” she said. “The cuts to our routine, the limits on the social connection have really tested our coping skills to the limits.”
Chafouleas is most concerned with increased mental health challenges among students as the pandemic drags on, affecting academic plans and schedules.
Stopping the spread
Gov. Ned Lamont announced plans to distribute two million at-home tests to K-12 school districts in January in part to deal with crushing holiday demand for testing.
On Thursday, the governor said that the announced deal for the delivery of three million at-home tests had fallen through. But the following day, hundreds of thousands of kits from a separate deal were delivered and the governor reiterated a commitment to bring additional kits to the state for distribution.
Still, Rabinowitz said these tests, while welcome and helpful, do not meet the negative test requirements for schools. The state would have to change its policy on accepted tests for this action to help staff and students provide proof of negative COVID status.
Still, she said the extra tests “will be good for peace of mind for staff and families to know they’re negative and can return to school.”
With climbing case counts and relatively lower vaccination rates among school-aged kids, there is also concern that children and staff will be more exposed to COVID-19.
“Certainly, the fact that the new variant seems to have an even higher transmission rate is a concern,” McCarthy said. “Reinforcing those protocols that have been in place and not getting lax about them is more important now than ever.”
Indeed, mitigation strategies are effective when they’re followed 100 percent— consistently and properly— Terranova explained, but that can be difficult when kids are unmasking to eat lunch all together, wearing masks improperly, or not social distancing in classrooms.
“We, as humans, are never doing everything 100 percent correctly, so that’s where we’re opening up a little bit of risk.”