Four School Staffers Test Positive

Contact tracing is the key to preventing spread. I'm glad none of the students were at risk of the virus from staff.

We are getting more information from the Trump White House than we are getting from this school district. That says a lot about transparency.

Darnell-The damage that is being done to New Haven students with forced remote learning is FAR greater than the minimal risk of contracting COVID. You are a smart man, why do you intentionally refuse to see both sides of the coin? COVID is 99% survivable for those under 65. The key is having a strong contact tracing program. It is more important than the constant testing that the BOE seems to be obsessed with.
Surrounding districts are now moving to 100% in person after successfully being hybrid for the past month. No one has died. Not teachers, not staff, not students.
I just don't get why you are holding 50% of families hostage. You must have underlying reasons that do not include "Kids First".

This is only the tragic beginning on the road ahead. Even Ray Charles can see this! For those who say NHPS student weren't expose what about the employees families they have to go back too? There is no easy fix for this. The rates are low because a lot of places are closed!!! Wait until the schools open back up. I guess folks forgot the countless people who were sick and died, elderly or not..

Lastly, how many aren't going to get tested because of fear schools will close once they open? People must forget that kids were sent to school before COVID sick!!! Memory loss is terrible. But I didn't forget.

NHPS Family,

Darnell, I don't get why you advocate for street lights at busy intersections. No one has died has died at that intersection where the street light is. Not the young, not the elderly, not the blind. You intentionally refuse to see that street lights are unnecessary. You must have some underlying reason why you support the street lights. Are you a communist?

@NHPS Family - well said.

@watchfuleye - please. Plenty of schools have had in person learning in the state and have been fine. Clearly the reward of having children in disadvantaged situations get proper in person education outweighs the risks. Quit the histrionics.

I wonder if this is why the supposed Yale- NHFT collaboration to get teachers tested never happened. Pressure is on to get students and teachers back in school; come hell or high water. Covid cases are creeping up but Gov. Lamont says it's OK to go to phase 3. Data doesn't matter anymore??

This is all about money and convenience. Health and safety is secondary. Woe to anyone who is an adult working with children in NH. The SPED staff who "volunteered" will be bringing the virus home to family and friends. But at least Sped students are out of their parents' hair!!!

Agree with Darnell-- if this is what is reported; how many more cases are there really?

Darnell-Your response is baffling. The learning loss, mental health decline, physical health decline from extended isolation and remote learning is real. It is disturbing that I have not once heard this addressed by the BOE, whose sole mission is to advance children's education and well being. It is important to do the cost benefit analysis of your actions, using real data. You would see you fall on the wrong side.
Not sure why you bring up Communism, but for what it's worth-school is in session in China and Russia, comrade.

Trump says 'don't be afraid of Covid.

NHPS Family

Cost benefit analysis????

One life lost when it could have been avoided = UNACCEPTABLE.

My math is a little different than your and comrade Trump's. But, that's just me (hands UN shrugging shoulders).

Darnell-
Yes, cost/benefit. How many students/staff/teachers have died from COVID as a result of attending in person class? The answer is NONE. How many are suffering in neglected homes, not eating properly, regressing emotionally, socially and academically? MORE THAN NONE.

Where is all the outrage for other more dangerous public health factors our children face? No one is up in arms about second hand smoke, domestic violence, guns in schools. ALL far more dangerous than a virus that can and should be managed well.

Kids and healthy teachers/staff belong in school, which is just as safe as the places they are currently populating.

Today staff at Fair Haven Middle School received notification via the principal that the head cafeteria worker has tested positive after being symptomatic . Does NHPS plan on notifying the families that have been lining up to receive bag lunches from her as early as yesterday? This is going to be interesting.

I am a parent of a NHPS student and I am not comfortable with sending my child into the building. I work for the City of New Haven and I can tell you how one of the departments is handling the contact tracing is laughable. We have gotten notice that people have been exposed and or tested positive, however I've seen one of the "exposed" people walking around mask-less in the building. But yet we are told through contact tracing, no one was/has been exposed. What a crock!

If this is how it is here, I can only imagine what it is like for NHBOE. I have co-workers that go out of town for the weekend, and come back to work without batting a lash. 95% of the people in my building don't wear a mask, as I type this I am sitting in an office of 8 people and only 2 have masks on and they are not socially distanced. But nobody cares.

I stand with Darnell on this, you can only trust that people are doing the correct thing when they are in front of you. Outside of that you don't know who they are exposed to and what they are exposed to. The kids can always catch up, they are not damaged, and won't be damaged beyond repair by remote learning.

Why put anyone's life at risk? It's just not worth it.

I am with DJKsmom and Darnel:

Your social emotional issues are yours ; as are your second hand smoke and domestic drama. No one dies of losing a little face time in school or being lonesome or bored. COVID kills. Exposing people unnecessarily should be a criminal offense. If the district knuckles under to parents and businesses when online learning can suffice (even if not excellent); it is a fair exchange for people to be safe.

Denmark, Finland say they saw no increase in coronavirus after schools re-opened Finnish schools have been back for two weeks, Danish ones since mid-April



So Why is our school system in this country not using the model they us to open there schools back up?

The Nordic countries of Denmark and Finland are reporting no increase in the spread of coronavirus since opening their respective schools, further suggesting that children are less likely to be sickened by COVID-19 and spread the virus.

Denmark began sending its children back to school on April 15, just over a month after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen issued an extensive nationwide lockdown. They were kept spaced apart in classrooms and on playgrounds, while sanitation measures such as hand-washing stations and deep-cleaning procedures were put into place.

Similar measures were put into place in Finland to keep children from congregating in large groups. The country's education minister, Li Andersson, predicted that reopening schools would "have a minimal impact on the pandemic, but grand benefits for children."

Both countries say the pandemic has not spiked since schools re-opened. Cases and deaths in Denmark appear to have peaked in early April. Finland's infection rate appears to have peaked around the same time, though its death rate remained almost entirely flat throughout the pandemic, aside from two one-day spikes late last month.

Research over the last several months has continuously shown that children appear to be less at risk for becoming ill from COVID-19 and spreading it to others. Researchers in Australia, as well as the World Health Organization's chief scientist, eacn have said that children as a group are largely not responsible for spreading the coronavirus.

This article is NOT up to date. I guess it should say 4 RECENT cases, because we all know of the cases PRIOR that I guess are not made known to New Haven Independent- because even TEACHERS were not told...
We have the janitorial team last spring, the school nurse early august, the teacher at Clinton Ave, etc.... Prior to this email, we have another teacher at 1 school and 1 person at Central Office that Dr. Tracey DID email teachers about.. and now I guess apparently these new 4 cases....
so thats a total of at least 9 cases confirmed, 9 people plus whoever they touched.
The NHPS community does not get informed when these cases are diagnosed!
That should be criminal.

Many teachers do not want to return without the Flu vaccine being made mandatory prior to returning this year. No one wants the Flu + Covid alive and well in their work place.

In addition, the public needs to STOP saying that NHPS is responsible for neglect occurring at home, domestic violence occurring at home, homes that cannot feed their children, SEL regression....
NHPS- a school system- is NOT responsible for what occurs in a private home. If someone is concerned about a child's well-being, then it is the responsibility of DCF to get involved for their well being. NHPS IS NOT DCF.

believe it or not, NHPS does NOT replace PARENTING!!
BE A MOTHER! BE A FATHER!

New Haven has gotten so used to the school system districting providing everything* except education (from food, to counseling, to health care clinics, dental) that now that the schools are closed, the parents don't even know how to parent anymore!
BE A PARENT. Its pathetic.

There is a plethora of SEL (social emotional learning) supports available online. If parents are too lazy to access it online then they just want the daycare.

3/5ths...
Have you looked at more local data? Schools all over the US have had to close after reopening. North Carolina was a disaster. Did you look at that data?
Here are more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/schools-are-reopening-then-quickly-closing-due-to-coronavirus-outbreaks-11597700886

Did you check New York City, Boston, as of late-Septamber?
Do you watch Connecticut news? There are a plethora of CT schools that have had to close again to stop the spread of the virus.
We need to be virtually fully functional because we could be home in the blink of an eye. Instead of fighting it, lets PERFECT being virtual.

Did you see the most recent NHI article from Sarah Miller. Heres a quote "Now after a month-long statewide experiment in schooling during COVID-19, the number of new infections in the only district to start fully remote appears to be well below our peers: last week saw 108 cases in Bridgeport, 148 in Hartford, 111 in New Britain, 80 in Stamford, 112 in Waterbury, and ... 34 in New Haven. So what does this mean for next steps on public school amid pandemic?"

Im pretty sure that Norway and Finland citizens and are doing a better job at following the social distancing rules, keeping their masks on, etc. My neighbor who is a teacher went on a trip to high risk North Carolina (on red list) and came back straight to class to set up her classroom!

NHI READER-- I agree with you 110%. NHPS is education; not child-rearing. If you didn't want to parent, you shouldn't have had the kids so don 't expect the govt to do the job you can't or won't do.. Birth control is available everywhere. No excuse.

NHPS Family, certainly teachers and students in other states have died from covid, though our inadequate contact-tracing cannot pin down the location of transmission. Connecticut is reporting 544 cases statewide among students (406) and school staff (138) since the beginning of the term, a number which has not yet been disaggregated to in-person, hybrid, and remote attendance. If 99% survive, we can already expect 5 school-community deaths in the near future.

In focusing on deaths, though, you ignore long-term consequences of the disease -- known and unknown. We read about long-haul cases, people living with chronic post-viral fatigue, or possible heart, lung or kidney damage. It's a bit cavalier to expose students, staff and their families to a poorly understood disease in pursuit of other poorly documented health benefits.

JillthePill-You are welcome to keep your child home if you feel sending them to school would increase their chance of dying or becoming debilitated from COVID. Personally, I look at the outcomes of people under the age of 65 in this state that contracted COVID. I look at the surrounding communities that have successfully returned children to class. I look at how they are in a much better place academically, socially, mentally and physically than New Haven students. I see that their families are not strapped with additional finances. We have positioned our families with additional public health stressors that are known to shorten lives. You may choose to believe that the possibility of unknown adverse effects from COvid long term is more dangerous than the known effects I have referenced, but that's decision isn't shared by everyone. Healthy teachers and staff should also be able to go back to school. Believe me, there are a lot that want to do just that. They just aren't as vocal as you NHPS Advocates.
And the contact tracing program in New Haven is excellent. I think you know that. If not, look into it.

>>> "You are welcome to keep your child home if you feel sending them to school would increase their chance of dying or becoming debilitated from COVID."

The school staff do not have such an easy choice.

Of course I meant "our" contact tracing in a national sense, since New Haven's tracing program cannot be applied to Iowa, where the route of transmission of a teacher's illness might not be clearly documented.

The fact that some people continue to support "distance learning" is shameful. The number of kids who are learning nothing is staggering. The psychological and emotional damage that this forced isolation is causing is daunting. The comments pro staying closed are broken records. Schools should be open and vulnerable kids/staff/ families should be allowed to do distance learning. The rest of the student body should be in class, learning academics and other soft skills that cannot be taught via a computer. Test, isolate and do contact tracing. The lockdown is harmful to kids but apparently not to politicians pandering fear and hysteria to collect brownie points to be cashed later. The "I am the only one of cares about the community" trope is getting tired. We are the community and we want our kids to get back to learning. Heck, some are now going to learn at "Learning Pods". Riddle me that, if it is so dangerous to have students in school, why can they congregate in spaces where there will be community providers offering services and such? Please drop your fight against the invisible illness. We all know that when the vaccine comes out, we will hear the same people clamor to not take it because it won't be safe... Open the schools, New Haven. Stop the hysteria.

posted by: NHIreader on October 7, 2020 4:29pm

posted by: NHIreader on October 7, 2020 4:29pm

3/5ths…
Have you looked at more local data? Schools all over the US have had to close after reopening. North Carolina was a disaster. Did you look at that data?
Here are more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/schools-are-reopening-then-quickly-closing-due-to-coronavirus-outbreaks-11597700886

Yes I have looked at more local data? And that is why keep saying So Why is our school system in this country not using the model they us to open there schools back up? In fact Denmark, Finland and some other countries have seen in there work places no increase in coronavirus.

THREEFITHS,

I don't think anyone needs to explain to you the difference between "the Nordic countries" and the United States. The later as you know, has historically underfunded public schools and public health and demands that people sustain themselves through a system of savage capitalism that systematically crushes poor people. The only evidence one needs to solidify this point is a short walk in our city's neighborhoods. You are with out a doubt one of my favorite and most thoughtful commenters on the NHI but in this argument you are wrong. You can not compare how small democratic socialist nations and the United States most marginalized and down trodden communities grapple with opening schools during a global pandemic.

posted by: TFA2013 on October 8, 2020 9:44am

I don't think anyone needs to explain to you the difference between "the Nordic countries" and the United States. The later as you know, has historically underfunded public schools and public health and demands that people sustain themselves through a system of savage capitalism that systematically crushes poor people.

My peeps who are a part of the The Black Coalition Against COVID who are fighting right now to open the schools based on The Nordic countries of Denmark and Finland.We the people in this country have to fight for the same thing.And this is what the The Black Coalition Against COVID are doing.Here is there plan.

Guidance On School Reopening

July 23rd, We at the Black Coalition Against COVID (BCAC) understand that every community in our nation is struggling with the questions of whether, when and how to reopen school buildings. There are no easy answers. The physicians and health experts associated with the BCAC offer the following information to assist in the inclusive and collaborative conversations between parents, teachers, and policy makers as, together, they make the critical decisions relevant to the students in the District of Columbia

Here is there plan.

https://blackcoalitionagainstcovid.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BCAC-School-Reopening-Guidance-.pdf

In fact we should have been fighting to close down the streets and had school in the streets when it was warm weather.

The infection fatality rate for those under 65 years of age is far less than 1%. For those aged 50 to 65, it is 0.14%.
For school-aged children, it is about .0002% If 500 hundred children are infected, it is highly unlikely that any will die.
https://www.acsh.org/news/2020/06/23/coronavirus-covid-deaths-us-age-race-14863
The 1% risk of death is closer to that of the overall population, and heavily weighted toward the elderly. For all over 65, the risk of dying is over 5%, with the risk being very high for the over 80 age-group. A friend of mine who was 70, overweight and on immuno-suppressing drugs wisely decided to retire from her NHPS SPED tutor job. Individual faculty, staff, and parents will need to evaluate their own risk and tolerance for risk and decide accordingly. Overall, though, both the pediatricians group and the National Academy of Sciences have decided that the benefits of opening schools out-weigh the risks. If the BoE continues to believe that if cannot open safely, it should give parents vouchers to be used at the many schools that are open. This virus will be with us for a long time.

Oh , the Monday Morning quarterbacks..... we shoulda done this, we shoulda that, we shoudn'ta done this ..... Everyone is worried and everyone is doing the best they can. Only history will tell us what was the better path and not even historians will agree.

It is so tiresome to hear the whining and breast-beating self-righteous telling everybody else to go back into schools and hospitals and businesses. They are self-interested; just like the people that they are criticizing and pushing back into situations that are unsafe. How brave! How noble! Don't risk my life. Risk your own as is your right

@CityYankee "Don't risk my life. Risk your own as is your right."

No one is risking anyone's life. No one is forcing kids to be back in school. When and if schools open, parents will have the choice to keep their children home and do fully remote learning if they do not feel safe sending their children into the school building. Moreover, per Dr. Tracey, there is a process whereby teachers and staff can opt out if they are at high risk of getting COVID-19.