CT Teachers Union Wants Less Crowded Schools For Reopening

CONNECTICUT — Staggered schedules are among the recommendations the Connecticut Education Association teacher union put forth in its plan for a safe reopening of schools in the fall.

The plan, released Tuesday, calls for school districts to have the option to reopen through remote learning at the beginning of the year. It is also calling for reduced classroom density through the use of staggered schedules or other means to maintain social distancing, as well as frequent coronavirus testing of students and staff.

“Nothing is more important than keeping our students, our educators, and our families safe,” said CEA President Jeff Leake in a statement. “We owe our students and educators the measures of safety and security they deserve. We must not fail to provide the necessary protections and risk new increases in COVID-19 infection rates, especially in light of new evidence showing that most school children can spread the virus the same as adults.”

The CEA is asking Gov. Ned Lamont and the state Department of Education to look at what other countries have done to reduce school density. Australia used staggered schedules and the Netherlands used alternating-day schedules.

Connecticut’s current plan calls for a full reopening of schools because the coronavirus rate is low, Lamont said last week. Remote learning and hybrid models have been discussed; a decision on the level of reopening will be made by early August, officials said.

The state’s plan has contingencies if coronavirus rates were to increase. Schools would go to a hybrid model if rates were to increase; they would go fully remote if there was a widespread outbreak. The data benchmarks to kick in those circuit breakers haven’t been announced yet.

Cohorting at the middle and high school levels would be nearly impossible given that students are taking a number of different classes, Leake told Patch.

Many secondary school teachers have reached out to CEA to suggest an A/B schedule, Leake said. One possibility is a group of students would come in for in-person classes on Mondays and Tuesdays and another group would come in Thursday and Fridays with Wednesdays a deep-cleaning day for the building. Remote learning would be done on other days.

“That’s a model that I think works well,” Leake said. “I’m hearing from our secondary teachers it works pretty well for them as well.”

The CEA is hoping for class sizes around 10 to 12 students for elementary schools with groups of students being spread throughout districts where there is room. That could allow for elementary school students to attend classes more than two days per week since there would be more social distancing room.

It would also reduce risk in the lowest grades, where mask use may lag, Leake said. A mask coming off for a short time is less of a concern with a group of 10 students as opposed to a full classroom, he said.

A recent South Korean study found that children between the ages of 10 and 19 transmit the coronavirus at the same level as adults. The study found children under the age of 10 transmit it less frequently, but study authors cautioned that large-scale school reopenings could potentially negate that advantage.

There is some worry for teachers who fall into a high-risk category for severe coronavirus complications.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention switched its high-risk guidelines to say that risk increases with age and older adults are at the highest risk.

Some of the underlying medical conditions for higher risk of complications include cancer, obesity, serious heart conditions and type 2 diabetes. Other conditions like asthma, hypertension and pregnancy may put people at a higher risk, according to the CDC.

“We are concerned about that, we are hoping to accommodate those folks who are in the most need, maybe distance learning is what you will do for a while until the vaccine comes out and you are able to get that,” Leakes said, adding that it’s a frequent concern mentioned to the CEA.

The key is to make sure there is adequate social distancing and that all protocols are being adhered to by everyone, he said. That would give some teachers at-risk some assurances that the teaching environment is safe for them.

A big part of the CEA plan hinges on adequate funding for a reopening. It also calls for a greater amount of funding for under resourced schools.

School districts will require a substantial amount of additional funding to make a safe reopening possible, Leake said. Part of that can come from local districts, but they alone can’t carry the burden. The state and federal government will have to help too, he said.

The HEROES Act, which passed through the House of Representatives, but hasn’t been taken up in the Senate would provide $90 billion for state fiscal stabilization with around $58 billion of that going to local school districts, according to Ed Week.

School bus capacity should be reduced to accommodate social distancing and monitoring personnel should be on all bus routes, according to the CEA’s plan. The plan also calls for a limit on standardized testing and the use of informal coaching instead of teacher evaluations during the pandemic.

See also: CT Significantly Expands Coronavirus Quarantine: Here’s What You Need To Know

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School reopening important for student health

Connecticut's school based health centers help provide health services to students including, vaccines, physicals and counseling, said Melanie Bonjour, president of the Connecticut Association of School based Health Centers Inc.

For some students it is the only health care they will receive.

Returning to school is vitally important for social and emotional student development, said Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona.

“While returning to school in fall is the best way to ensure all students have equitable access to opportunities to thrive both academically and personally, doing so safely has and will always be our priority," he said in a statement.

The Connecticut Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics is encouraging families to reach out to their pediatric primary care providers to get students caught up on any vaccinations they may have missed since the pandemic began.

"We hope that children will be able to participate in in-person educational activities this fall, and getting up to date with immunizations and well child checks will put them in the best position to do that," said Dr. Robert Dudley, president of the Connecticut pediatric chapter.