City, Suburbs Compare School Reopening Plans

Wilton and Wallingford Public Schools are ready for a hybrid school reopening with online and in-person instruction and socially distanced classroom setups.

New Haven, meanwhile, remains in limbo — waiting on a state panel to decide on a requested all-remote start to the school year.

The three different school reopening models were discussed Tuesday morning at a webinar hosted by the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.

The discussion was moderated by President & CEO of the Greater New Haven and Quinnipiac Chambers of Commerce Garrett Sheehan and Managing Director of Strategic Spaces Wayne LaSalle.

It came just a few hours before local school administrators, ed board members, and legal help pitched a state panel on the city’s request to spend the first 10 weeks of the school year all online. 

Masks Are Critical; Band Or Chorus Not ​“Viable”

John Laudano, who is a registered sanitarian at the Quinnipiac Valley Health District, said during the Chamber webinar that he has been offering guidance and opinions to different school districts about reopening plans.

But, he said, at the end of the day, each school district makes the ultimate decision on reopening. 

“We have lots of thoughts about how things should go and one of the biggest concerns that most everybody has heard already is about the masks” Laudano said. He has had long discussions about what type and style schools should require for students attending in person classes.

“From our standpoint, a mask is better than no mask, certainly, and whether or not you have an expensive mask, whether you’ve got a multilayer mask, it’s not the critical item. The critical item is that everybody is wearing a mask.”

Laudano also said he has been working with school districts to maintain six feet of distance for students in all classrooms. He added the biggest challenge for keeping this distance is in band or chorus rooms and that some schools have canceled band and chorus for the foreseeable future. ​“I’ve not seen any band or chorus plans yet that are actually viable,” he said

“The number one constant is flexibility,” said State Department of Education Director of Innovation and Partnerships Chris Soto.

He said that roughly 60 percent of schools in the state have committed to fully in person classes. Many other schools plan to start with a hybrid model before ramping up to full in person. 

According to Soto, all other schools in the state are planning to reopen using a hybrid model, except for only one or two that are requesting fully remote classes. New Haven is one of those schools requesting all remote learning.

Wallingford And Wilton: Ready For Hybrid

Superintendent of Wallingford Public Schools Sal Menzo described his school district’s hybrid reopening plan.

Their plan is to have Pre‑K through fifth grade students in school full time, while middle and high school students will alternate in person and virtual classes with two days in person and three days remote each week.

According to responses from parents at the end of the school year to a survey Wallingford schools sent out, the majority thought it was important to have students have either virtual or in person contact with teachers on a daily basis.

“They felt that sometimes students could potentially be teaching themselves and that’s not what teachers want.”

“I told them in our board meeting last week, I said ​‘you’re probably throwing things at the screen right now at me because you’re not happy, but I’m not going to make everybody happy.’”

While Menzo said he won’t be able to please everybody and the plan won’t be perfect, he thinks their plan will work. ​“I’m excited because I do believe in our plan, I do believe we’re going to be meeting students socially, emotionally, as well as academically.”

Wilton Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Smith detailed their hybrid model as well.

Smith said the amount of unknowns and intense, diverse opinions about how to reopen has made it difficult to move people in a single direction. ​“We’re being asked to reinvent public education in a span of five or six months here.”

Wilton’s hybrid model allows students who are attending classes virtually to access the live classroom. They have installed new cameras and sound systems so that students who are remote can still participate.

New Haven: Still Waiting On State

For New Haven, a lot of details involved in reopening hinge upon the state’s decision on whether or not to allow New Haven public schools to open fully virtually.

NHPS Chief Operating Officer Michael Pinto spoke about the challenges schools will have to face for either in person or virtual learning.

Pinto said the largest potential concern for in person classes would be ensuring social distancing at larger high schools like Career, Wilbur Cross, and Hillhouse. 

For online classes, the biggest challenge would be providing internet access and proper technology for students to connect. Pinto did highlight New Haven’s success in quickly supplying tablets or iPads to every student from Pre‑K to second grade and Chromebooks for students in third grade to eighth grade.

Pinto said that although 90 percent of students said they had internet connection in a survey, that internet connection was not high speed or strong enough wifi for students to have reliable online access. That is especially true for students with siblings also trying to connect.

He said New Haven schools have been working with cable providers to broadcast free wifi off public buildings in Fair Haven and the Hill neighborhoods within the next few weeks.

Transportation Trouble

Menzo, Smith, and Pinto said they all anticipate challenges when it comes to transportation.

Menzo said in Wallingford, they have bus cleanings scheduled for multiple times throughout the day and will have bus monitors ensuring students wear masks and stay in assigned seats.

Menzo said those protocols are the extent of what they can do in Wallingford in terms of transportation. ​“Even if we wanted to double our bus capacity, even if we had all the money in the world, if there is a goose that laid five thousand million golden eggs and we could all cash in, there would never be enough bus drivers. We have 58 buses we run and we have a hard enough time getting those 58 drivers, never mind another 58 bus drivers.”

The Wallingford superintendent said they are also encouraging parents to drive their kids instead of taking the bus to school if they can. But, Menzo said this could cause some traffic issues.

To combat similar traffic concerns in Wilton, Smith said they are planning to impose staggered start and dismissal times.

In New Haven, Pinto said the local school system has been encouraging parents to drive their kids to school or for more students to walk. Because of this, if the schools reopen in person, Pinto said he expects a 50 percent capacity on the buses.

He said kids will be lined up for dismissal and buses will be boarded strictly back to front to avoid kids passing by each other.

Pinto added, ​“All plans go out the window and we have to revise them on that first day of school, when that first soldier hits the beach, you know, everything goes awry and you have to adapt.”