Schools on alert for U.K. virus

Danbury-area districts ‘doubling down’ to ward off more contagious strain of COVID-19

Local school districts aim to remain open, despite a more contagious variant of COVID-19 that health experts warn could be the dominant strain in the country by next month.

Superintendents said they and their health advisers are keeping a close eye on what is known as the UK variant and, at least for now, will use the same measures— like masks and cohorting—that have kept COVID from spreading in their buildings.

“We’re preparing by continuing out effective mitigation strategies and doubling down on them,” Brookfield Superintendent John Barile said.

The UK variant spreads faster and easier than the one that has rocked Connecticut since March, forcing schools in Great Britain to close until at least March 8. Sixteen Connecticut residents have tested positive with the variant, the governor said on Monday.

“It does concern me when we look at the potential spreads and how it is considered more contagious,” said Megan Bennett,

superintendent for Region 12. “But we feel strongly that our mitigation strategies are in place, and we are just making certain we’ve got an eye on enforcement.”

State health officials have told local superintendents that precautions like masks, social distancing and hand washing should still work against the variant.

“What they continue to assert even now is that the mitigation strategies that we’re currently using in schools continue to be appropriate even with the new variant,” Superintendent Christine Carver said.

It’s promising that the variant appears not to affect younger children as much as older ones, she said.

Public Health England found young children were about half as likely as adults to transmit the variant to others, based on contact-tracing of about 20,000 people, according to the New York Times.

But information on the effectiveness of existing mitigation strategies is still lacking, some superintendents said.

“We don’t get a lot of definitive answers on that,” New Fairfield Superintendent Pat Cosentino said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser in the United States, recommends wearing two masks to prevent the spread of the variant—something Cosentino said she would welcome students and staff to do.

“We’re going to continue our mitigation strategies,” she said. “We’re going to make sure if you’re sick or you don’t feel well, you stay home. We’re going to encourage families to make sure they limit outside activities or functions.”

Ridgefield has added desk shields in classrooms for students to be better protected when eating lunch, Superintendent Susie Da Silva said. But other precautions have remained the same.

“We don’t necessarily have any new or revised mitigation measures,” she said.

Trying to avoid remote learning

Da Silva had sent a letter to families last week saying the state health department had told districts “to be prepared for the possibility of full remote learning in March” due to the variant.

But Da Silva clarified this week that the state did not tell districts they would likely need to go remote. She said she intended to warn parents, especially of elementary-age children, that learning models could change.

“We just want to make sure our families can prepare as best as possible,” Da Silva said.

For the most part, schools have stayed open even while their communities are in the state’s “red zone” due to a high number of cases.

Barile expects schools will be able to do the same with the new variant because there have been relatively few instances in the state where the virus is suspected to have spread within the schools.

For example, in Brookfield, there have been only four cases in the high school that possibly spread on campus, he said.

“We know what we can do and what has worked in the current context,” Barile said. “Whatever this variant yields, we’ll listen to our medical folks.”

Danbury, which was the last district in the area to open on the hybrid model, plans to keep students in the classroom, although officials said they are paying close attention to the variant’s potential impact.

“Everything goes into the decision-making process for safety reasons, but at this point we’ve taken our steps and we monitor it very closely,” Superintendent Sal Pascarella said.

Newtown will work closely with its local health department to determine the best learning model, Superintendent Lorrie Rodrigue said.

“We continue to ensure that our students and staff comply with mitigation strategies, including remaining properly masked, practicing social distancing, and proper hand washing,” she said in an email. “These strategies do work, although we will be monitoring the health status at the state level and within our own community as we have throughout the year.”

The variant could force schools to switch to the hybrid model, said Carver, whose elementary and middle schools in Bethel are open fully in-person.

“But I don’t know at this point that we know,” she said.

Cosentino is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“At this point, I try not to worry about things I can’t control,” she said. “When it [the variant] comes to us and I have to deal with it, I’ll deal with it. But right now, we’re in good shape.”