School Pandemic Plans, Complaints Differ In Fairfield, Stratford

FAIRFIELD, CT — Although Fairfield and Stratford are just across Bridgeport from one another, the school districts in the two towns have responded to the recent surge in coronavirus cases in vastly different ways.

Fairfield and Stratford each started the school year with a hybrid learning model, hoping to eventually return students to the classroom full-time.

In Fairfield, a proposal to bring elementary students back in school full-time in November was delayed after an October spike in virus cases. Stratford forged ahead with its initial reopening, and kindergartners, first-graders and English language learners returned to school four days per week in mid-November. Plans to expand the full reopening to other grades were put on hold, however, and the district last week moved all students to remote learning through Dec. 4.

Both districts' approaches have resulted in public demonstrations and opposition.

In early November, about 80 people rallied in Fairfield with signs, demanding a more detailed reopening plan. Although some parents have expressed support for the district, others continued to seek details about when and how schools would reopen during a Board of Education forum Nov. 18.

“What’s the plan? What is the actual plan? What do we need to do to get the ball moving toward full-time?” Chris Benedetto asked during the event, held via Webex.

Benedetto was told the reopening committee had been working on a plan that was available on the district website, but he remained frustrated by the situation.

“My son is staring at a computer all day long,” he said. “To me, this is the biggest embarrassment I have ever experienced as a resident of Fairfield.”

Other parents at the forum asked how the district would decide to return to full-time classroom learning. Officials have repeatedly said there is no single number that will determine when to make the change.

“It seems like we were planning to go back and that was quickly taken from us,” Amy Ruggiero said. “It’s very stressful and I feel like we’re falling behind from other towns and private schools.”

At a Stratford school board meeting last week, before the district decided to move to online-only education, residents asked officials to pull back on any full-time, in-person learning or temporarily switch to remote education. District parent and Stratford Democratic Town Committee Chair Steve Taccogna said he was “dumbfounded” that some students were in the classroom four days per week.

The meeting took place the same day an estimated 80 educators demonstrated on Main Street against what they said were unsafe working conditions.

Stratford school buildings are scheduled to remain closed until Dec. 7, according to Superintendent Janet Robinson, who said the district’s next steps will depend on the spread of the virus. Fairfield school officials in mid-November had begun discussing the possibility of moving to remote learning only, Superintendent Mike Cummings said at the time.

While Stratford and Fairfield are relatively close in terms of population size and two-week average daily coronavirus case rate, the virus numbers within the school districts differ significantly.

As of early Sunday in Stratford, 51 students and staff members were in isolation with the virus and 469 students and staffers were quarantined, according to the district dashboard, which reflects the most current available numbers. In Fairfield as of Wednesday, 32 students and staffers had the virus, while 203 school district community members were in quarantine.