“Test To Stay”

At 1st 2022 Board of Ed meeting:

• 10 – 33% absenteeism jump reported.
• New Covid-19 policy unveiled, modeled on Mass.
• Yesinia Rivera reelected prez.

At the Board of Education’s first meeting of the year, members reelected their leaders, discussed an increase in student absences, and learned about new ​“Test to Stay” protocol for students exposed to Covid-19

The meeting took place over Zoom, continuing the move to virtual sessions begun nearly two years ago because of the pandemic.

Reelections

All three members of the board’s leadership team were unanimously reelected, uncontested.

Yesenia Rivera was reappointed president of the board, 6 – 0. She originally stepped into the role in January 2020. (Board member Darnell Goldson was not present at Monday’s meeting to vote.)

Board member Edward Joyner said Rivera has done a ​“phenomenal job in a very difficult time.” 

Mathew Wilcox was reappointed vice president of the board. He was thanked for his attention to detail, compassion, and integrity while handling board matters and decisions. 

“Matt Wilcox is the hardest working man in school boards,” Joyner said. 

“I know that if there is one person that has dotted his i’s and crossed his t’s and knows the details, it is Mr. Wilcox, and that is incredibly valuable to the Board of Education,” Mayor Justin Elicker added. 

Edward Joyner was reappointed secretary and recognized by members for his ​“lifetime and more of service” and knowledge shared with the district. 

Elicker also officially swore in the board’s newest appointed members, Dr. OrLando Yarborough III and Dr. Abie Quiñones-Benítez, at Monday’s meeting. Yarborough’s and Quiñones-Benítez’s slots were approved by the Board of Alders to replace departing board members Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur and Larry Conaway, often dissenting voices whose terms Elicker did not renew. 

Student Absences

The board and community were given an update at the meeting on student absence rates, which increased over 23 percent since last month. 

New Haven Public Schools Director of Research, Assessment and Evaluation Michele Sherban reported that as of Dec. 1 the student absence rate was at 10 percent. A total of 1,967 absences were reported out of the total 19,262 enrollment. 

As of Jan. 5 the absence rate had increased to 33 percent, with a total of 6,308 excused and unexcused absences. 

“Many of the students, we don’t know the reason,” Sherban said.

Schools Superintendent Iline Tracey added that the district has not yet accounted for missing attendance records kept by substitutes or students marked absent after arriving late to school. 

The chart above includes absence codes marked AU for unexcused absences, AE for excused absences, HX for excused homebound absences, OS for out-of-school suspensions, and HA for additional homebound students. 

Updated Covid Plans & Protocol

City Health Director Maritza Bond made a presentation reviewing new and existing quarantine protocols for students and school staff. 

When a student tests positive for Covid the student must quarantine for five days, then take a rapid antigen test on day five. If test results are negative, the student will be able to return on day 6. 

If a student comes in close contact with an individual who has tested positive, they are given an alternative option to quarantine for the required number of days. 

The district has introduced a second option known as ​“test to stay” which is being rolled out this week. The district is basing the option on the Massachusetts Department of Education’s testing program. It will require the students to self-test for five consecutive days. To return to school for those five days, the student must test negative after taking the at-home rapid antigen test, which schools will provide. 

Because the district has a limited availability of test kits, to qualify, students must have Covid-19 symptoms, test positive for Covid, or come in close contact with Covid either while not vaccinated or having been vaccinated more than six months ago. 

The school will either send students home with a test kit or arrange a time for families to pick them up.

“This is much much more robust than the both the CDC’s recommendations and the state’s recommendations,” Elicker said of the ​“Test to Stay” protocol. ​“This is a way for us to facilitate safely children remaining in school.”

The health department is also continuing its Covid Taskforce inspections at all schools to ensure compliance with safety guidelines and mask wearing. 

Joyner raised concerns about the possibility of noncompliance with the protocol’s self-testing options. ​“We’re relying on parents to test their kids at home. And you and I both know that sometimes parents will have a tendency to send their kids to schools even when they know they’re sick. Some parents, not all,” he said. ​“Any violation of these protocols will really create problems for the entire school.” 

Elicker agreed tracking the students’ self-test will be difficult and will likely come down to trust. But, he said, it is ​“the best that we can do.”

Yarborough suggested the district work to increase communication with parents’ employers about student quarantine needs and providing time off as a result of Covid safety concerns in schools.