Lunch Logistics, Student Stress Discussed By Fairfield Officials

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield students are back in the classroom full-time this week after months of remote and hybrid learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But pandemic or not, some things never change — like the all-important question of where to sit at lunch.

“The experiences of adolescence, which we’ve all dealt with, have a slight COVID twist,” Superintendent Mike Cummings said Tuesday to the Board of Education, recounting how students reacted when they encountered lunch tables that accommodated fewer people than expected in order to allow for social distancing.

READ MORE: 'Baby Steps Back To Normalcy': Fairfield Schools Reopen Full-Time

Lunchtime was a subject of concern for students and adults alike. School board member Carol Guernsey said she had heard from many community members who were worried about students having a lunch period during the pandemic and whether lunch could create an increased risk of virus exposure.

Overall, conditions have been effective and safe, Cummings said. At lunch, some schools use a Google spreadsheet that allows students to log their seats, others have students scan a QR code to record where they sit, and elementary students have assigned seats. Middle school and high school students did encounter some challenges using the required barriers, according to Cummings.

“The more we do it, the better we’re going to get at it,” he said.

In school, students will be as little as 3 feet from one another, although staff will remain at a 6-foot distance. Students who spend 15 minutes or longer within 6 feet of a person who tests positive for the virus will need to quarantine.

As of Monday, 17 district students — but no staff members — had recently tested positive, while another 105 students and 15 staffers were in quarantine, according to Fairfield Public Schools.

Cummings noted that school officials remained aware of the tenuousness of a full-time return, particularly with the emergence of new coronavirus variants.

“I think that there is a level of stress among the students,” he said. “There’s a level of stress among the staff.”

And while the majority of students are back in school buildings, just over 400 — mostly high schoolers — have opted for remote synchronous learning. Another 550 elementary and middle school students are enrolled in the district’s Remote Learning Academy.