Masks, Testing Top School Reopening Concerns

Now that the state has given local governments control over whether they fully reopen schools this September, New Haven’s public schools district has questions to answer before making its own decision.

Some of these questions emerged Monday night, when Board of Education members first heard about the state relinquishing its authority over school reopenings.

“If we can’t afford to pay for safety in reopening, we shouldn’t be doing it,” board member Darnell Goldson said.

Sudden Local Power

Over the past few weeks, teachers, parents and paraprofessionals have argued in op-eds, virtual meetings and a 100-person demonstration in Hartford that New Haven does not have enough resources to follow the state’s preference that every child attend school in-person every day this fall.

On Monday, in an apparent reversal of previous guidance, Gov. Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona announced that local governments would not be required to follow the state’s preference of a full reopening.

Responsibility now falls on the Board of Education and NHPS administrators to decide. The board is planning to host a special meeting on the topic later this week or the week after, with the date to be determined.

Superintendent Iline Tracey said that her preference among the school’s three reopening options is the hybrid model. In this version, students in third grade and younger would meet in smaller class sizes four days a week and learn remotely for the fifth day. Older students would attend class two days a week, alternating with their peers, and learn remotely for the other three days.

The other options are fully in-person or fully remote learning.

The teachers’ union, Local 933, has asked to start the year with remote learning and phase back into in-person teaching.

As Board of Education members consider whether they are ready to guarantee the safety of all entering New Haven schools, here are a few of the questions they hope to answer.

How Much Protective Equipment Should Schools Provide?

Face masks have proven to be one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of Covid-19. The state is requiring everyone to wear face masks within school buildings, with accommodations available for people with medical reasons why they cannot wear a mask.

New Haven Public Schools plans to have 100,000 disposable face masks on hand. These will be for students and staff members who forget their masks at home, schools operations chief Michael Pinto said. Otherwise, students and staff should bring their own.

“We think that is appropriate. As it stands now, they are required to wear masks in public,” Pinto said.

Board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur said that she would like the school system to provide face masks to employees. Providing face masks for children is a different story, Jackson-McArthur agreed after Tracey said that children need a wide range of sizes of masks.

“If we are requiring them for our employees, we need to be supplying at least one a week,” Jackson-McArthur said.

Tracey said that the school district does plan to provide face shields to teachers to wear on top of their personal masks as extra protection. She said that her team would ask the state whether it has a supply of face masks that the district could tap.

How Will Schools Tell Who Has Covid?

All three of the board members who aired questions about school reopening worried about how the district would know who has Covid-19.

The state has not asked schools to test for Covid-19 or conduct daily temperature checks. The rationale was that these are not effective uses of resources, since a student or teacher could get swabbed for the disease and become exposed to the virus the next day.

Goldson said that he is not comfortable sending children back to school without temperature checks, testing and a system to trace whom Covid-positive individuals have come into contact with.

Board member Edward Joyner agreed that the district needs robust testing and contact tracing, among other measures, to open in-person.

“We must have safety standards that are not negotiable. I do not want to unwittingly be responsible for the misery of any child or any family in this community. I believe every one of you feels the same way,” Joyner said to his fellow board members.

Joyner argued that even though some test results might be incorrect, it is much better to know more than less about who may have Covid-19.

Jackson-McArthur, who is a pediatrician, said that she is happy to defer to school health officials on how often those coming into school buildings should get swabbed. She said the frequency will depend on how many people are getting Covid-19 in the wider community. She also said that an initial test of Covid-19 levels before school starts might be a good idea.

Jennifer Vazquez, the district’s director of nurses, said that NHPS is strongly encouraging all staff members to get swabbed. Staff unions would need to approve the policy if it became a requirement.

As with personal protective equipment, more testing could carry a hefty price tag. Staff members’ tests might not be covered by insurance if they do not have symptoms. Would the Board of Education pay for tests if they require them? Tracey asked.

Tracey encouraged board members and members of the public to submit other questions in advance of the special reopening board meeting.