Plan For Hybrid Shift Reaffirmed

• In-person classes to start Nov. 9, school board reassures parents.
• Tracey: 8 schools have met safety checklist so far.
• Open-windows learning in January?

“I think it’s very important that families have some certainty. Even though we may not be voting, we will be going into the hybrid mode and families can attend if they choose,” said Mayor Justin Elicker. ​“By the comments of most of the board, that is very clear. Families can leave this meeting with that certainty.”

Tracey said that she has been moving forward according to the board’s previous vote. She said that on Wednesday she will start messaging the start date of Nov. 9 out to families. This involves sending out new bus cards and sending out a final survey where families can elect to stay in remote learning mode. If they do not elect to stay remote, the school district will assume they want to come in for hybrid classes.

Any student who wants to learn virtually only can do so, without losing their seat in a magnet school, Tracey clarified after a parent raised this fear. If families officially withdraw their student from the district and homeschool them, they will lose their seat, she said.

Not every school is ready to reopen yet according to a checklist of measures Board of Education members have asked for to ensure high safety standards during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tracey said that eight schools have met all items on the checklist and that she will open only the schools that meet all of those items. The ready schools include Benjamin Jepson, Bishop Woods, Davis, Obama, New Haven Academy and Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Learning Center.

“If on or before November 9, the virus uptick is higher or we have not put MERV 13 filters in, I’m the first one to say we’re not opening period, or we could say open those that are ready,” Tracey said.

This means that students in third grade and younger will come into school four days a week. Older students would have in-person classes two days a week and virtual classes three days a week.

All Eyes On Air Quality

Teachers and parents continue to worry about whether air circulation is high enough inside school buildings to keep students and staff safe.

“Right now, we’re solving a lot by opening windows. That won’t be a possibility in January,” said parent and teacher Jessica Light.

“The child that sits closest to the window is the safest and least comfortable. The child that sits farthest from the window is the most comfortable and least safe. These are decisions I don’t want to make as a teacher.”

The board has hired an engineering company, Fuss & O’Neill, Inc, to provide a third-party check on whether the ventilation standards are up to Covid-19 safety standards.

Groups of city and state inspectors and Yale School of Public Health experts have also gone over each school building with a ​“fine-tooth comb,” Tracey said.

“We said, ​‘Please stick with things that are Covid-related,’ because other things are coming up, like a broken lightbulb,” Tracey said.

The air filters recommended to catch airborne viruses are MERV 13 or higher. Tracey said that these filters will arrive and be installed by next week for all but three schools — West Rock, Quinnipiac and Riverside. She said that these schools are where windows will stay cracked to let in fresh air.

Tracey read off a list of schools that the district is in the middle of fixing. Sound School has a leaky roof and small classrooms, and nearly 100 percent of students want to come back to in-person classes. High School in the Community needs new air filters. James Hillhouse High School has a ductwork problem. The problem is in the process of being fixed at Wilbur Cross and has been fixed at Career High School.

A Month Of Covid-19 Tests

Testing those who enter school buildings for Covid-19 is one of the board’s safety goals. Board members and administrators have argued about how possible it is to mandate tests, as universities are doing, and board member Darnell Goldson asked for a written legal opinion on the matter.

The law firm Shipman & Goodwin LLP offered its answer this week: It is not legal to require students to get Covid-19 tests, because of their legal right to attend school. Schools can deny them entry if they have symptoms of a contagious disease.

Schools can require that employees get tested for Covid-19 if New Haven has a moderate to severe level of transmission of the disease, the law firm wrote. Where that threshold falls is up to public health experts.

The district would also have to negotiate with the employee unions — not on whether employees must get tested but on what that means for employees lives, like whether the district would pay for the tests.

Instead of requiring tests, the district and New Haven Health Department are making sure all students have access to Covid-19 tests in their neighborhoods.

Those tests will be available starting on Wednesday to all school families regardless of whether they have health insurance. The health department expects to be able to cover the whole school community over the course of three to four weeks.

Board Readiness

While some board members were ready to reaffirm their Nov. 9 start date, others were not.

“I haven’t seen real evidence. I like to hear from people directly impacted on whether they think we are ready. I haven’t heard one teacher say they thought we were ready,” Goldson said.

One of Goldson’s longstanding concerns is that school buses will be the places where outbreaks happen. He has said that the district needs to hire a bus monitor for every bus to help drivers make sure students keep their masks on.

In a previous meeting, the board learned that the state had withdrawn enough Covid-19 relief dollars from the district that it would not be able to afford bus monitors, on the rationale that the district would not need certain supplies while in distance learning mode. Tracey provided an update that the state will fund bus monitors on the K‑8 buses.

Goldson said that he would vote for the Nov. 9 start date if the board gave union presidents and school building leaders the power to sign off or not on buildings reopening.

The administration invited teachers union president Dave Cicarella and administrators union president Sequella Coleman online to vouch for their role in the process even without this formal check. Each said that they have significant lists of concerns and that they have spent significant time talking through those concerns with the superintendent.

“As of yesterday, I spoke with Dr. Tracey for what was it? 40 minutes? We went through an exhaustive list. I appreciate your patience on that,” Cicarella said. ​“It’s almost a month before the November 9 deadline. I’m kind of cautiously optimistic.”

Board member and former principal Larry Conaway asked the paraprofessional’s union president Hyclis Williams to speak at the next meeting about her involvement so far as well.

Both Conaway and pediatrician Tamiko Jackson-McArthur said that they are happy with the checklist. They thought a vote was premature though. Conaway pointed out that a vote wasn’t necessary.

“We don’t even know what schools are ready. We need to be voting on opening A, B, and C schools and waiting on X, Y, and Z,” Jackson-McArthur said.

Others argued that it was clear that the schools are on track to reopen. Board member Edward Joyner made the motion to reaffirm the summer vote and later withdrew it when Conaway pointed out it wasn’t necessary.

“Based on my research, all standards that we could execute at this time are being executed,” Joyner said. ​“I really believe that we’ve used this time well. If I were to vote, I would vote a resounding yes to move forward. Then I would ask the community to work with us and help us solve this problem.”