State’s COVID spread widens
Self-test kits arrive as Danbury schools cope with 322 staff absences
Danbury Public Schools will open two hours late through Friday due to COVID-19 related staffing challenges, and local schools Tuesday received thousands of rapid self-test kits.
The two-hour delay in Danbury is needed as the school district sees a sharp increase in staff absences from rising COVID-19 ill
nesses and exposures.
There were 296 staff members absent on Monday and 322 out on Tuesday, according to data from the district. That’s almost a 160 percent increase from the Monday after holiday break the prior year and a 142 percent rise from the Tuesday after the break in 2021, according to the district’s figures.
“All staff will continue to report at their normal time in order to prepare schedules and coordinate coverages,” Superintendent Kevin Walston said in a letter to the school community. “Our staff members continue to experience their own issues with COVID-19 exposures and positivity, which is resulting in staffing interruptions and last-minute shortages.”
Danbury has contracted with Kelly Services, a staffing company that was to provide substitute educators for the district beginning no later than Monday. Walston said the district can cover 25 percent of its request for class coverage with its substitute teaching pool.
“All of our staffing resources have been impacted negatively,” he said in an email.
The district reported 66 COVID cases on Monday in eight schools, according to its COVID dashboard. This is a far greater number than the schools had seen prior to the holiday break. As of Monday, Danbury no longer contact traces for close contacts of students and staff with COVID due to new state guidelines.
More students are absent than typical, Walston said.
“Our attendance rates are significantly lower than they are typically this time of year,” he said in an email. “This is something we monitor daily.”
Several buses were not running on Tuesday due to staff shortages. Morning preschool and the Extended Learning Program are canceled this week due to the delay.
Test kits
The 670,000 rapid, self-test kits given Tuesday to public and private K-12 schools and early child care providers statewide are expected to help students and staff identify whether they have the virus. This is expected to be the first half of districts’ total allocation.
“The rapid home tests are to be used to screen those who are symptomatic, to determine who should not be present in school,” a memo from state Department of Education states.
Danbury received the most kits of the school districts in the area, with 5,670 iHealth kits for students and 1,440 FlowFlex kits for staff in the first phase, according to figures from the state. The FlowFlex kits have only one test, but each iHealth kit has two tests.
The state distributed the kits based on population, with Danbury getting enough kits to cover about 50 percent of its students and staff population, Walston said.
“This means that Danbury will not have a test kit for every staff and student during Phase 1,” Walston said in his letter.
Other local school districts received roughly half the number of kits for their students.
Local districts could pick up their cases on Tuesday at Litchfield County Fire School in Torrington, according to the memo.
Each kit has detailed instructions in Spanish and English for parents and staff to follow, with instructions available in other languages online.
The state says the kits should be used if a child or staff member has COVID symptoms or has been exposed to the virus.
“If a class or program is experiencing multiple cases of COVID-19, a school may want to distribute tests to all students in that classroom if they have difficulty accessing tests,” the memo adds.
Students and staff who have tested positive in the last 90 days are not a priority for these kits.
Danbury schools plan to use the kits based on these criteria.
“They will not be sent home, but rather distributed on a case-by-case basis using the criteria above, until supplies have been exhausted,” Walston wrote.