Drought of info stymies union, board members

Union boss: Officials should tell staff, public more about reported COVID cases

STAMFORD — The city’s police and fire chiefs publicly report when members of their departments test positive for COVID-19, but school administrators have not done so.

Amid widespread reports that two instructors and an employee of a construction company working in the schools have been confirmed for coronavirus infection, district administrators are not commenting.

Spokeswoman Sharon Beadle referred questions to the city’s health director, Dr. Jennifer Calder, who did not return a request for comment.

Board of Education member Becky Hamman said

she has requested a special meeting in response to reports of the COVID-19 cases.

“Knowing the health and safety of all individuals is at risk while district buildings are allowed to be open (still on an appointment basis), I

believe we need an update directly from the superintendent,” Hamman wrote in a letter to fellow board members.

The school board has not met since March 10. A virtual special meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon, but only to approve a gift of laptops. No date has been set for Hamman’s requested meeting.

Board member Mike Altamura, one of three to support Hamman’s call for a meeting, said he tried to learn more about the COVID-19 cases but was told it would violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

“I feel like we’re being stonewalled,” he said. “They don’t want to give us information.”

Diane Phanos, president of the city teachers’ union, Stamford Education Association, said the teachers’ union should be not be kept in the dark when school employees report positive COVID-19 test results to Central Office.

“The unknown is scarier than the known,” she said.

Mayor David Martin, who has no jurisdiction over the Board of Education, said he heard about two confirmed cases among school staff and a third involving a contractor working in the schools.

“To my understanding — it was not reported to me directly — we have had people who are part of the instructional staff who have tested positive, but I cannot speak to their positions or where they work,” Martin said.

School buildings have remained open even though classes ended March 12 and teachers are instructing students electronically. It is not clear whether the three people reported to be infected with coronavirus were in the buildings after classes ended March 12.

Phanos said she asked Superintendent Tamu Lucero about the three positive test results.

“She did not confirm or deny, and referred me to the health director,” Phanos said. “She said if there was a positive case, the health director would be aware of it and would work to notify people who were possibly exposed.”

Part of that was repeated in a statement Beadle released late Thursday afternoon. It says the city and school district, to ensure the privacy of employees and contractors, will not release specifics about anyone who tests positive for COVID-19, as obligated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The city and district notify those at risk of exposure and believe such measures “maintain the public’s health and security,” according to the statement.

Phanos said she should be able to tell union members about such cases, “especially when school buildings are still open.”

“How come the superintendent can’t say we have confirmed cases when the police and fire departments do that?” she said. “Why do teachers have to go through the health department, but police and fire don’t?”

Fire Chief Trevor Roach said it’s his feeling that he must be open about positive cases in the ranks.

“We don’t want it to spread, so we have to let the public know as well as members of the department,” Roach said. “It’s a health emergency.”

As of Thursday morning, the fire department had two confirmed COVID-19 cases and 16 employees in isolation, he said.

Acting Police Chief Thomas Wuennemann said reporting results reassures citizens.

“We have contact with the public, so we want to let them know we are taking measures to take officers out of service when they are positive and that we are quarantining their co-workers,” Wuennemann said. “We don’t want anyone to spread the virus to the public or to each other.”

As of Thursday, the police department had four confirmed cases, Wuennemann said. Fourteen officers were isolated originally but the number has been fluctuating, he said.

Last week school custodians questioned why — when playgrounds, restaurants, stores and other businesses are closed to help stop spread of the virus — school buildings still are open to teachers, parents, students and construction workers.

Custodians reported that some teachers were working in their classrooms or offices for multiple hours a day and that there were several dozen people in a building at any given time.

At first the district allowed broad access to the buildings. But this week access was limited to 8 a.m. to noon Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays by appointment only. One administrator and one secretary must be present in each building.

School administrators have said the buildings need to stay open so parents can pick up grab-and-go lunches and electronic tablets for their children, teachers can get things from their classrooms, and workers can continue making repairs related to a mold infestation that closed one elementary school and classroom space districtwide.

Martin said the buildings should remain open.

“If schools manage it correctly, people can get food to take care of their kids and we can try to do construction work that needs to happen,” he said. “For the most part, construction work can be done in ways that don’t spread disease.”

It’s a matter of practicing the safeguards of hand washing and social distancing, Martin said. If that happens, “you are less safe in grocery stores and pharmacies than you are in school buildings,” he said.

Asked why the school district this week curtailed access to buildings, Martin said he hopes he set an example with policies he instituted for city hall, where you cannot enter without an appointment and hand-sanitizing in the lobby is mandatory.

“There are things we are doing that may have been picked up by the Board of Education,” he said. “It’s not like I’m ordering them to do it, but I like to believe we are collaborating and they are taking heed of some of the things we are saying and doing.”