Rising Coronavirus Cases In Milford Impacts Schools Plans

MILFORD, CT — Superintendent of Schools Anna Cutaia said Milford students will continue to attend school five days a week but with an abbreviated schedule. Officials had hoped to extend the instructional day sometime in April, but those plans are on hold as coronavirus cases are once again rising in Milford.

Milford is back in the 'red zone,' Cutaia noted.

Here is her letter to staff and families which was written on April 11:

In-Person Learning

Upon returning from spring break (April 12), we will continue with the five-day, abbreviated hours schedule that we have followed since last month. As I noted in previous letters, we consider five factors when making decisions around in-person and distance learning: 1-health metrics, 2-social/emotional needs, 3-academic priorities, 4-availability of resources and 5-human resources.....

According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health Town Level COVID Response Framework, Milford is considered to be in the “Red Zone.” While Milford continues to be in the red zone, we will return to our Tier I instructional model (five days with abbreviated hours) and WILL NOT increase in-person learning. (Families may still select to have their children engage as distance learners.) We will continue to keep an eye on the health metrics and ensure we have appropriate staffing levels.

We Need Your Help!

We are seeing a rise in positive student cases. Through contact tracing, we are finding many more home, neighborhood and community-based activities where spread is occurring. The domino effect is that individuals are coming into school not knowing they are potentially infectious, in some cases despite demonstration of mild symptoms, and causing high numbers of quarantining and continued spread. We are finding social gatherings of students (such as playdates, birthday parties, athletic-based outings, and carpooling to school/sports/events) are contributing to increased cases requiring quarantine.

Last month, despite the full suite of mitigating strategies, we experienced our first instance of school-based transmission this academic year.

The increase in positive cases among our students has the potential of impacting end-of-year activities that many of our young people and families are excitedly anticipating. These activities include, but are not limited to, Senior Day, 8th Grade Day, graduation and other end of year celebrations.

What can you do? If students and staff are not feeling well, please stay home. Please review this health checklist every morning. Use it to guide your decision on whether you should send your child to school or, as a staff member, come to work. Follow all of the additional recommended measures to protect yourself and those around you--wear a face mask, stay 6 feet apart from people outside of your household, avoid crowds, get vaccinated if you are eligible, and wash your hands often.

We are still living in a pandemic. Please help us to finish strong this school year. As a school district, we will continue to commit to the suite of mitigating strategies to help keep our students and staff safe but we need your help. What occurs in our neighborhoods impacts what occurs in our school buildings. Let’s all stay safe together!

I am continuously grateful for your support and partnership in all we’ve experienced through this crisis. Take good care.
Best,

Anna M. Cutaia, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools