Masked New Canaan students attend class in-person
NEW CANAAN — As most of the 4,194 students returned to in-person school for their first day, they were wearing masks while social distancing three feet rather than six feet .
All students, except those immune-compromised or quarantined, are expected to learn in-person. Children who are home sick will not have access to remote learning.
“Off to a great start,” Superintendent Bryan Luizzi told Hearst on Monday. The superintendent and district administrators visited all five schools to greet students, parents and teachers back. “People are excited to be back for the first day. It’s a great day.”
The New England School Development Council (NESDEC) had projected 4,165 children for this September, 34 fewer than present enrollment numbers.
The schools will have the same number of homerooms as last year, though some teachers may be moved around as some schools to keep class size within district guidelines, Luizzi said.
District enrollment estimates expect that 1,491 students will attend the three grade schools, which is a 14-student increase over 1,477 enrolled in the 20192020 school year. NESDEC had projected 1,497 children for this September.
Saxe Middle School is expecting 1,347 students, two more than the 1,345 on the roster at end of June and more than the NESDEC projection for 2020-21 of 1,319.
New Canaan High School will have 1,356, down six from 1,362 over June last year, and the NESDEC projection is 1,349.
The district guidelines call for keeping classes 16 to 20 students in grades K through 3; 20 to 24 pupils for grades 4 through 8; and 14 to 25 pupils for grades 9 through 12.
Students will be required to wear masks for at least the first month of the academic year, consistent with an executive order by Gov. Ned Lamont for Connecticut schools.
Tempers flared at a recent school board meeting Aug. 16, on whether children should wear masks in school. Opinions were split evenly — with six speakers in favor of children wearing masks to school and six opposed.
The schools will be following the Department of Public Health guidelines on ventilation, with Luizzi said fresh air, is an important mitigation practice.
“We’ve worked hard to ensure that every classroom and instructional space has sufficient air-flow and exchanges districtwide,” Luizzi said at the board meeting. “These efforts will continue in 2021-22,” said at a recent school board meeting.
The state has not mandated that school districts provide full-time remote learning this school year, unless the student is a medically complex student or immune compromised in some way or if the student lives with someone with medical fragility.
One board member expressed disappointment, at the August board meeting, that most sick children will not be able to livestream classes at home. Penny Rashin said it could be a mitigation strategy, because it encouraged students to stay home when they were not their best.
The district needs to “balance the operational needs,” Luizzi told her. Students would still be encouraged to stay home when they feel sick, but the day will be treated like a normal sick day. He said student should rest to recover when sick.
This year, the state has given guidance for districts not to have remote learning on snow days. Luizzi has said in the past he thinks that when school is closed for snow, children should sleep-in and go sledding.
The district will be reducing the space of social distancing from six feet to three feet consistent with the Center of Disease Control’s new guidance.
Last year, schools attempted to uphold a sixfoot sphere of space around all children and adults. When a person tested positive for COVID-19, contact tracing would be conducted to find everyone who had entered that person’s sixfoot sphere for 15 minutes or more and those people would be quarantined.
The district had 371 cases of COVID-19 during the last school year which resulted in 2,234 quarantines, according to “COVID-19 Data Highlights,” issued by the Board of Education.
The Centers for Disease Control guidance points to students keeping a six-foot distance in common areas, such as school lobbies and auditoriums; when masks cannot be worn, such as when students are eating; and during activities when increased exhalation is needed such as during sports, band practice, singing, shouting or exercise.