Darien Petition Calls For In-Person/5-Days-Per-Week School Year

DARIEN, CT — A Change.org petition has been started in Darien that calls for the public school system to institute a five-day-a-week, in-person model — not the planned hybrid model — when students return to school on Sept. 3.

Earlier this week, district officials laid out the proposed hybrid plan, which calls for students to be in school two days per week with remote learning on the other days. On Sept. 29, the district would move to an in-person model.

Some parents and staff have concerns about the hybrid and in-person models while control of the coronavirus remains elusive without a vaccine.

But another group, who support the petition, want a full, in-person return to school, in part because the transmission rate of the virus in Darien remains low, and because they say a hybrid model is disruptive and not particularly safe.

Currently, the infection rate per week is at three in Darien, and it has not risen above 14 cases per week in more than four months.

"Given the data and guidance from the state, and Dr. Addley's and the BOE's abrupt change in re-opening recommendation, it is not clear that they will ever recommend a full re-opening in person," wrote Greg Grambling, the petition's organizer. "Darien has been within the bounds of in-person learning for over 4 months; how much more supporting data is needed?"

As of 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, 367 people had signed the online petition toward a goal of 500 signatures.

Grambling claims there are three main reasons why a hybrid model will not work:

1) Students have no consistent schedule and the 2 days / week curriculum will not be full, leaving our kids at a disadvantage vs. neighboring towns opening 5 days / week in person (e.g., Norwalk elementary schools)

2) Teachers are still potentially exposed, but also now have to manage both in-person and eLearning

3) Parents (especially dual income families) will have continued management of eLearning, which was a nightmare, and no fixed schedule for our kids

Parents now have the option to enroll their children in a remote learning model, but the petition calls for parents also to have the option of enrolling their children in an in-person model on Sept. 3.

To view the petition, click here.