Stratford Teachers Protest; Full Elementary Reopening On Hold

STRATFORD, CT — Teachers on Monday afternoon lined Main Street from the train station to Town Hall, holding signs bearing phrases such as “masks are disposable, teachers are not” and “safe schools save lives.”

The same day the teachers demonstrated against what they said are unsafe working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic, the school district paused its elementary-level reopening plan. Students in grades two through four were originally scheduled to return to the classroom four days per week starting Monday, but with cases rising in Stratford and across the state, that didn’t happen.

Stratford educators are still concerned.

“I have 23 students in my class, in a very small, tight classroom,” said Stacey Buffone, a first-grade teacher at Wilcoxson Elementary School. She was among the estimated 80 educators demonstrating along Main Street on Monday.

Although the elementary reopening is paused, programs that are back in the classroom full time as of last week — including kindergarten, first grade and English language learning — will continue to follow the full-time classroom schedule.

“We don’t feel safe at all,” Buffone said.

Multiple teachers expressed anxiety about bathrooms being cleaned only once daily, children who are unmasked in the classroom during meals, an inability to consistently social distance, and a lack of deep cleaning.

Superintendent Janet Robinson defended the district.

“The social distancing is still adequate, plus they have desk barriers as an additional mitigation strategy,” she said in an email. "We are not relaxing virus prevention protocols.”

Students are spaced at least 3 feet apart, according to Robinson, who said the once-daily bathroom cleanings are acceptable and that a cleaning company is cleaning high-touch surfaces every day in the elementary schools.

"This virus does not live long on surfaces, and according to DPH, there has been no evidence of picking it up from surfaces," she said.

For four of the district’s nine elementary schools, the concerns are a moot point — at least for now. Chapel, Nichols, Johnson House and Eli Whitney elementary schools have pivoted to remote learning due to complications related to the virus. Stratford and Bunnell high schools and the district’s ALPHA Program are also currently on a distance learning schedule, rather than the hybrid model the district introduced at the start of the school year.

The district reported four new coronavirus cases Monday. As of early Tuesday, 41 students and 12 staff members were in isolation with the virus and 614 students and staffers were quarantined, according to the district dashboard, which reflects the most current available numbers.

Stratford, like most Connecticut municipalities, is in the coronavirus red alert zone, with a two-week average daily rate of 41 cases per 100,000 people.

“The cases are through the roof in Stratford,” said Robin Julian, elementary vice president for the Stratford Education Association and a kindergarten teacher at Victoria Soto School. "We’re in the red, why are we looking at going back full-time?”

Concerns about the virus and how to respond to it within the school district have created tension between the administration and teachers. In an email Friday, Robinson made the case that schools should remain open when possible and urged teachers to take precautions against the virus.

“We have too many of our staff members being exposed outside of school, or in school by another adult,” the email said. “Please don’t let your guard down over the holidays.”

Donald Jones, of the Connecticut Education Association, responded by calling Robinson’s email “patronizing,” “condescending,” “uncaring” and "degrading.”

“Teachers are very aware and know all the risks Covid poses for their health,” Jones said in an email of his own. “It is absurd and offensive to suggest otherwise.”

Robinson said she was “taken aback” by Jones’ remarks.

“We are all working to support the teachers who support our students,” she said in an email. “I am above all a teacher, and try to make the best decisions that reflect the best interests of our students.”

Robinson said she would continue to watch virus data in the district before resuming the reopening plan.

But Julian, who is already teaching a full kindergarten classroom, remains apprehensive.

“Hybrid was working,” she said. "Now I’m not sure what’s going to happen after Thanksgiving break.”