Fairfield Parents Can Address School Board At Meeting Tuesday

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield parents and community members will have a chance to speak directly to school officials for the first time in months after the Board of Education called a special meeting following the school district’s decision to delay its transition to full-time classroom learning for elementary students.

The meeting will take place 7 p.m. Tuesday, ahead of the board's regular meeting at 8 p.m. Members of the public must register in advance to participate via teleconference. The school board has not heard spoken public comment since the coronavirus pandemic spread to Connecticut in March, forcing elected government bodies to meet remotely as a precaution against virus transmission.

“Public comment is right now a work in progress,” board Secretary Jessica Gerber said in an email.

Prior to the board’s recent decision to hold the special meeting, officials had been exploring the logistics of offering a live, call-in option for residents, according to Gerber.

Board of Education members and Fairfield residents alike have been vocal about their desire to resume full-time, in-person learning. Last month, a letter signed by more than 300 Fairfield families was submitted to school officials requesting an immediate return to full-time classroom education. An online petition in August seeking an in-person, full-time learning option received nearly 800 signatures.

Fairfield elementary students were set to go back to the classroom full-time in November, until the town was added last week to the state’s “red alert” zone for coronavirus infections, leading the district to postpone the plan and continue its hybrid learning model.

Since the pandemic reached Connecticut, the school board has been taking public comment solely via email, as has the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance. The finance board hopes to resume in-person meetings by the end of the year, and in doing so, accommodate spoken public comment, according to Chair James Brown.

The Representative Town Meeting has plans to soon allow live public comment during its meetings, according to Moderator Karen Wackerman. The Town Plan and Zoning Commission accepts public comment in the form of emails or hard copy correspondence, as well as spoken comments during its public hearings, held over Webex, Chair Matthew Wagner said in an email.

To register to speak at Tuesday’s special school board meeting, visit https://bit.ly/2HBG3zi. For more information about submitting public comment to town bodies, go to www.fairfieldct.org/agendasandminutes.