Stamford School Buildings To Temporarily Close For One Month

STAMFORD, CT — All Stamford Public Schools will temporarily transition to 100% distance teaching and learning for about a month due to "staffing challenges," district officials announced late last week.

In a letter to staff and families, Superintendent Tamu Lucero said the temporary move will begin Dec. 21, with school buildings currently expected to reopen Jan. 19, 2021. (To sign up for Stamford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

"Looking ahead to the upcoming weeks," Lucero said in the letter Friday, "we unfortunately anticipate our current staffing challenges, in both the hybrid and the distance teaching and learning models, to become increasingly more difficult."

Lucero said the "difficult" decision was made to ensure continuity and quality of the district's teaching and learning. She also noted building leaders will share more information about the transition with staff and families sometime this week.

Additionally, the district has set aside time for conferences this week, at both the elementary and secondary levels, to ensure ongoing communication continues between parents and teachers, Lucero said.

Early release days have been scheduled on Wednesday-Friday for all students to allow time for conferences and keep schedules consistent across the district, Lucero said.

According to Sharon Beadle, the district's public affairs officer, the staffing challenges noted in the superintendent's letter are due to "an increasing number" of staff members needing to quarantine as a result of the continuing coronavirus crisis, as well as an uptick in staff members taking sick time or family and medical leaves. She also noted a "districtwide shortage of substitutes" as a factor.

"It is anticipated that by January, these issues will improve," Beadle said.

Board of Education president Jennienne Burke said the district's decision to go fully remote is warranted due the staffing shortages anticipated.

"Staffing considerations, as well as guidance from state, local health departments and the CDC, have been the approach Superintendent Lucero has followed throughout this pandemic," Burke said Tuesday. "This is the right decision at the right time for Stamford Public School's students, staff and teachers. The [board] agrees with this approach and supports this decision."

Last week, the district said school bus delays were expected this month due to "a temporary shortage" of bus drivers, however it is unclear if the driver shortage was related to the staffing challenges noted by Lucero.

The transition to distance teaching and learning comes as the number of new confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus stands at 71 as of Thursday afternoon, according to a tracker on the district website. The cumulative total of confirmed positive cases of the virus for the year stands at 387, or 2.04% of total staff and students, also as of Thursday afternoon.

Lucero did not mention the number of cases of the virus in her letter, only the staffing challenges currently faced by the district.

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