By Kaitlyn Krasselt Campers want answers on summer plans
Directors, campers and families were all disappointed when Gov. Ned Lamont announced that residential summer camps would be closed for the summer. But when Lamont later said he would reconsider, their reaction wasn’t exactly jubilation.
Camp directors have already called their staffs to let them know they needed to look for other work and let families know they’ll need to find other arrangements for their children.
Reversing that, now, would be nearly impossible, many have said.
“The governor and the office of early childhood and really everyone is trying the best they can to manage a very new and very complicated situation,” said Rabbi James Greene, executive director of Camp Laurelwood in Madison.
“What’s been really hard for camps has been inconsistent communication.”
Greene said that when the camps were first deemed essential in Lamont’s March executive orders, staff immediately went to work to prepare
the camp in the safest possible way to welcome guests this summer. From procuring hand sanitizer, masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment, to developing a plan for staff to come to camp two weeks early in order to quarantine in preparation for campers, Greene said months of work had gone into planning.
He said the camp also worked to secure a testing supply line in order to test all campers and staffers.
“Because that process takes months to plan out it’s really hard to stop it midstream and then restart it again,” Greene said. “We took that advice seriously and then talked with families and created new protocols and procedures. There are no guarantees and it’s not realistic to say we could have guaranteed 100 percent that we could avoid having a case of coronavirus at camp but I think that we’ve set ourselves up as best as humanly possible.”
So it came as a surprise when, on Monday this week, Lamont overnight camps would not be allowed to operate this summer. Greene, like many other camp directors, was dismayed, but respected the governor’s decision and quickly called staffers and campers to let them know they’d need to find other arrangements for the summer.
But after camps expressed their dismay with suddenly being told to shut down for the summer, and detailed how, in some cases, sleepaway camps are no different — or maybe even safer than — day camps, where campers come and go every day, the governor surprised some when he said he’d give the subject another look.
“We are working to increase daycare and open summer camps that should be some help for parents. We’re in a tight fiscal situation; revenue has collapsed, but we’re trying to ramp up childcare programs. There is a chance we can allow sleep-away camps, but the key piece of doing that is testing,” Lamont said during a webinar conversation Thursday with Hearst Connecticut Media Columnist and Editor Dan Haar.
Time is running out for Lamont to make that call, though.
Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said Friday that the administration has remained in communication with the camp industry, but cited testing as a potential roadblock to reopening as many camps may not have access to adequate testing.
Michael Morrell, director of camping for the Connecticut Yankee Council of Boy Scouts of America, said it would be exciting if Lamont changed his mind again, as many of the more than 1,600 campers the organization serves were disappointed they would not be able to attend camp this summer.
But he echoed Greene, saying Lamont has to decide sooner, rather than later, and that the longer the decision hangs in the balance, the harder it will be for camps to reopen regardless.
“It would be very challenging at this point because we all have concerns,” Morrell said. “Our campers and parents, just like the same ones that do sports and other programs, they would have to feel comfortable as well, based on the current requirements. Obviously they would have to be willing to send their children to camp. At this point I’m sure they’re looking for other opportunities.”