Quarantines, Vaccines & More: Fairfield Schools Prepare To Reopen

FAIRFIELD, CT — Next week, most Fairfield students will return to the classroom full-time after nearly a year of remote and hybrid learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Town health officials recently met with the school board to discuss the data behind the decision to fully reopen and how best to prepare.

“We’ve seen about six weeks of decreases in every major variable,” Health Department Director Sands Cleary said at the Feb. 25 meeting.

Percent positivity rates for the virus have dropped in Fairfield, from 4.7 percent the week of Jan. 8-14 to 1.3 percent Feb. 19-25, according to town data. As of Thursday, 12 district students and five staff members had recently tested positive, while another 42 students and 14 staffers were in quarantine, according to Fairfield Public Schools.

Officials did not see significant in-school virus transmission among elementary students after that population switched to a new learning model in January, with most of the district's younger students in school concurrently for four hours per day, according to Cleary. Health authorities also were not aware of any large-scale transmission within districts that had already sent secondary students back to the classroom full-time, he said.

Fairfield’s middle- and high-school students currently follow a hybrid model. That will change Tuesday, and elementary students will be back in school full-time Monday.

While transmission is not a major concern associated with the learning model change, the effect of the pandemic will likely be felt in new and different ways.

“Will we have more students in quarantine? Absolutely,” Assistant Director of Health Jill Mitchell said in reference to the increased density that will result from students returning to the classroom full-time.

Students who spend 15 minutes or longer within 6 feet of a person who tests positive for the virus will need to quarantine, Mitchell said. As part of the district’s full reopening, students will be as little as 3 feet from one another, although staff will remain at a 6-foot distance, according to Superintendent Mike Cummings.

One private high school in Fairfield that has already completely reopened typically requires between 20 and 40 students to quarantine for each virus case, said Mitchell, who added public schools have the advantage of block scheduling to reduce exposure.

“We are worried about potential staffing shortages,” Cummings said, noting the return to full-time, in-person learning is a concern for some district employees.

The health department offered 1,000 vaccine shots to teachers on Monday, which was the first day they were eligible for vaccination, according to Cleary.

“The vast majority of those people signed up on Monday are from the Fairfield Public Schools,” Cleary said.

With the reopening, teachers have been directed to prioritize students’ social-emotional needs, according to Cummings.

“For 6-12 this really in many ways is going to be the first day of school again,” he said.

Board of Education member Bonnie Rotelli said she didn’t want teachers rushing curriculum accomplishments at the cost of students’ mental health.

“We were told there was going to be focusing on social-emotional needs at the beginning of the year, and I know, personally, I didn’t necessarily see it,” she said. “I think we need to acknowledge that it’s not a normal year.”

One of the many departures from pre-pandemic normalcy that students will encounter is lunch, where they will have assigned seats or seat tracking, leave every other seat empty and use plastic barriers, according to Cummings. Students can still sit with their friends at lunch, he said, noting the district may put up tents in mid-March for outdoor eating if the weather allows.

Cummings also warned parents about the likelihood of increased traffic during drop-off and pickup after schools fully reopen.

“Parents should really consider putting students on buses,” he said.