What's Going On With East Haven Teacher Shortages?

EAST HAVEN, CT — On their own, the latest East Haven schools' COVID-19 case and quarantine numbers are raising —and furrowing— brows with worry and suspicion.

As of late Wednesday, there have been so far a staggering 181 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases reported. As of Thursday, 161 students and educators are in quarantine. And just since Monday, 8 new cases have been reported, data by the district shows.

But there is no evidence, East Haven school and health officials contend —as do federal health officials — that disease transmission is coming from within schools, rather, COVID-19 is being brought into schools from the community.

East Shore District Health director Michael Pascucilla told Patch that there's no evidence of in-school transmission after vigilant contact tracking investigations.

"The reason why the positivity rate is going up is simply that the community is not doing their part," he said. "More people are getting ill because they are not following the rules. It's not coming from the schools."

Where are the teachers?

But as noted on social media, and in emails to Patch, what is most concerning for some families is the number of teachers and schools' administrative and support staff that are out.

Schools superintendent Erica Forti responded to an email requesting information on what's going on, an email that was copied to the school board chair and local health director.

Forti said that while there are staff cases — the district COVID-19 case trackers shows three teacher cases this week and a cumulative 53 since the school year began last September — there are myriad reasons for the shortage of teachers, something she said is not just in East Haven but across the state.

"East Haven, along with the majority of Connecticut districts, are experiencing staffing challenges," she said, adding that statewide, "we are seeing more and more classrooms, teams, grade levels and schools closing for staffing reasons. Our staffing vacancies across the district are a result of several reasons."

Forti said those reasons include:

• staff in quarantine as a result of being identified as a close contact in school or out of school
• staff taking sick days unrelated to COVID because they are not feeling well
• staff taking sick days to care for a child who is sick
• staff taking personal days
• staff taking unpaid days for various reasons
• staff taking bereavement days for a death in the family
• staff taking days under FMLA

According to Forti, the state department of education allowed for "waivers and flexibility on certification and staffing this year, including adjusting requirements for substitutes, to assist districts with the anticipated staffing challenges."

So, she said, not unlike other districts, East Haven is using substitutes hired by the district. Those include building based substitutes who cover vacancies in their assigned school.

"If there are no vacancies in their assigned school they can fill a vacancy in another East Haven school," she said. Paraprofessionals certified to sub fill vacancies and teachers or support professionals in the building. For example, she said, math coaches, reading coaches, interventionists) who cover staff vacancies and/or provide math/reading/content area lessons for cohorts in their building."

For some families, the worry is keeping cohorts safe and in their group.

"We remain committed to keeping students and staff in cohorts as best possible as articulated in our reopening plan," she said. "Students do remain in their cohort even though a staff vacancy may be covered by another staff member in the building, a paraprofessional, or substitute."