18,000 Log Into Class; 2,500 Don’t

"The administration has seen a decline in the overall student population, particularly among suburban students who can go to in-person classes in their home district, Tracey said". Well you'd have to be completely out of touch to not see this coming. All that magnet funding for suburban kids goes right out the door, along with the State funds for reopening. Brilliant move BOE. Imagine the loss when we stay shut for the entire year!

I can't believe the BOE and the MAYOR are allowing our children to lose so much academically, and socially. The remote learning is AWFUL, instructional time has been severely reduced. Students want to be back in school. There has not been one case of a teacher or student contracting COViD in a school setting and becoming severely ill or dying. WHY are we doing this?

To: Dr. Tracey, I hope you really get a chance to read some of the post …. starting with me.
My daughter is in the health care field so she never had time off during the COVID-19 pandemic. I've been helping out where needed with her now -second grader. We got by the first wave of 'remote' schooling. This time around, and perhaps it's because we're using Zoom, there are many problems. I know we are only a few days in, but this week I lost patience. Although we (he) tried to be part of what was being discussed, learned, talked about, it wasn't possible. The experience was horrible and frustrating and my belief goes to show just why young learners need hands-on-learning in a school environment with CERTIFIED educators. Remote learning for young learners is a waste of time. I don't see him learning anything from remote. No, we don't need babysitters, we need certified educators to teach our children or risk losing many grade school children behind. Time to get on with life and OPEN the doors.

I agree wholeheartedly with Somewhere in New Haven. To that end, out of respect to families, educators and all parties involved it would be wonderful to get weekly updates from the BOE regarding their progress towards working on reopening. What's the status of the checklist? Has one been decided on? Where does each school fall right now in terms of meeting the goals on said checklist? There are so many unanswered questions. I understand the necessity of focusing on remote school start these past few weeks, but the more information that can be shared publicly with everyone regarding the status of reopening the better.

@newhavenishome: It's not really fair to blame Mayor Elicker, who voted in favor of opening in person at every BOE meeting where it was discussed.

The people to blame are the schools (for not being properly prepared to open in person), the BOE (for not doing everything they can to get schools open at least for K-2 at the very least), and higher levels of government (for not prioritizing testing, without which nobody can reopen properly).

Agreed that this year is so far actively educationally harmful, not just of zero value. Virtual gym classes with kindergartners involving showing them videos of people exercising? Teaching kindergartners to write over the internet? If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny.

JustAThought-Agree! Where is a checklist of what needs to be done? Families are left in the dark, yet we are expected to facilitate Remote learning indefinitely. Each school should have a checklist and a team working to complete all items. I would be happy to volunteer to help.

a_person- The Mayor deserves some blame. Yes, he voted for hybrid. Since then, he has checked out. He is the leader of the only City in CT where kids are not learning in person. New Haven numbers are so good that the health dept. is now allowing Fall high school sports(not football) . He should be applying pressure, forming a re-open task force, speaking with the State re: assistance. Maybe he is doing this, but it isn't apparent to me as his constituent.

NHPS needs to be ready for in person hybrid learning when it's 10 weeks delay is up. They need to have addressed all the physical plant needs for ventilation and traffic flow, and the virtual plant needs for remote access. They should be prioritizing special needs, learning disability and K-6 for in person learning. They should have hybrid in person learning for half the week and remote learning for half the week for grades 7-12. Hamden seems to have worked out a plan with flexibility built in for outbreaks and for individual student needs. If Hamden can do this with all the financial difficulty they're having, so can New Haven.

"There has not been one case of a teacher or student contracting COViD in a school setting and becoming severely ill or dying"

Probably because we shut it all down pretty quickly in March

@Newhavenishome, perhaps reading would educate you in the fact the numerous teachers have died over the last couple of weeks after returning to school, and many, many more are infected. How many deaths are ok in your opinion? The selfishness of demanding students and teachers be put in harms way during a global pandemic is truly disgusting. There will be many more infections and many more deaths, all which you feel are justified.

@NancyTeach-You are either intentionally stating misleading information, or you are unable to think critically past an inflammatory headline. Yes, teachers have died from COVID. They have NOT died because they contracted COVID in a school setting. Not one. But go ahead and call me selfish and disgusting if it makes you feel better.

Madcap-Other parts in the country have been back in school, in person for months. No serious illness/hospitalization or deaths have been recorded DUE to a return to in person learning. The overall trend in the USA for the past month has been a decline in infection, hospitalization and deaths.

Dear Newhavenishome--- please look up Demetria Bannister, 28, 3rd grade teacher from South Carolina.

Dear NHPS Family-- schools are already closing around the state. Sadly, New Haven may have been on the mark as cases rise.

Dear Nancyteach--- thank you. Every one is so brave, offering up children and teachers probably so their favorite bars and restaurants can open, too.

Nancyteach: 1) The disease is endemic. Teachers and others will get sick, and some, the old and the sick, will die. This article lists recent teacher deaths, but none of them conclusively related to classroom teaching. One teacher was sick and quarantining before start of school. another got infected at church.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/teacher-deaths-from-covid-19-raise-alarms-as-new-school-year-begins
2) In Sweden, with pretty much no safeguards, there was one teacher death.
3) The data from Sweden also show that teachers in general did not have a heightened risk from their occupation.
https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/contentassets/5e248b82cc284971a1c5fd922e7770f8/forekomst-covid-19-olika-yrkesgrupper.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3xbEEgGwSqZFrRovH-Q8lSvPplCOySzUbi_vIB5U9T1XvaY1gh-DXhu5g
As you can tell from the chart on page 9, only infant carers and student assistant have a slightly above average risk (1.1), while secondary teachers a 30% below average in risk (0.7) of getting CoViD-19.

CityYankee- From CNN "Bannister had taught at the Windsor Elementary School for five years, WIS reported. She started her third year of teaching third-grade students virtually on August 31" . She never stepped foot in a classroom. May she Rest In Peace.

"There has not been one case of a teacher or student contracting COViD in a school setting and becoming severely ill or dying"

>>> "Probably because we shut it all down pretty quickly in March"

@TheMadcap: and those who delayed, like NYC, did indeed have teachers die. https://abc7ny.com/teacher-deaths-doe-department-of-education-schools/6173896/. I wonder where newhavenishome got that idea.

You know what? You "Nay Sayers" have no idea! Stop it. Just stop. Because of these circumstances, I have had to opportunity to communicate with colleagues across the district, not just in my school. They are committed, working all hours, training via the district, other teachers, and self-help, and literally kicking ass to make this the best it can be. 99% of my students are engaged, learning, producing, and actually having a good time. And for that 1%, I, as other teachers and administrators are, am on the phone finding out why and how I/we can help. So stop. In the time it took you to bash EVERYTHING, you could have been supporting us, and more importantly, supporting your student. As I've said before, just help getting them started. We will do the rest!

city yankee: We are sacrificing bars so schools can open, because while bars are enjoyable and provide many with employment, schools are essential. Restaurants have been open for month, including indoors, while infection rates have continued to drop. All in spite of the fact that restaurant and service workers have above average risks (about 2.5 to 3 times average per the Swedish study).

Yes, schools are closing (one in Stamford today), but are the closures justified, or the result of unjustified paranoia?

Excuse me NewHavenisHome and others, 30 teachers died this past spring b/c of Covid-19 (see article in link). Why are these people so disposable in your eyes?
https://abc7ny.com/teacher-deaths-doe-department-of-education-schools/6173896/

Jill the Pill and Madeline- I'll try one more time...Your article from May 2020 is giving a number of teachers and other NYC DOE employees that died after contracting COVID diagnosis. The article states the majority of them worked in a school setting. The article DOES NOT STATE that any of them contracted the disease in the classroom, it does not state the disease was contracted from students. None, not one. You are creating correlations that just do not exist. There is no proof of spread from student to teacher. None. Do you accept the fact that these people could have caught COVID from somewhere else besides the classroom? Has there been a higher amount of teachers dying from COVID than other occupations? No.

Madeline17: Your link is from May, and from NYC, where CoViD-19 deaths were common everywhere, especially in the outer boroughs. 24K New Yorkers died of CoViD-19 this spring. Out of that 24K, only 30 teachers died. There are 75k teachers. I don't see how your data supports any argument that schools are especially risky. So, the mortality rate for teachers was about a tenth of that for the general population. (.003 for everyone, .0004 for teachers).

I can't believe people are actually making comments such as "there has not been one case of a teacher or student contracting COViD in a school setting and becoming severely ill or dying" or teachers and others will get sick, and some, the old and the sick, will die". The lack of compassion amazes me. I wonder how you would feel if someone was taking that attitude towards your loved ones.

Teachers are working hard and the attendance in my classroom has been 98% since Day 1 of remote learning. In fact, my attendance has been better this first week of school than it has ever been the first few days in a typical year.

I agree, remote learning is not the best option for everyone. My little ones have been very engaged and are excited to 'see' their friends online everyday. Guess what - in a hybrid model, they would not be seeing all of their friends and would not have as much opportunity to interact in small groups as I am giving them the opportunity to do online.

It is interesting how only those who have something negative to say about teachers/schools are usually the ones to comment.

So to my NHPS colleagues, NHPS students and NHPS parents who have been supporting teachers and your children during this trying time - a big thank you!

Amen to ProudNHTeacher!

@a_person...and let's not forget about the very vocal group of teachers and parents who advocated hard for fully remote learning...caravaning up to Hartford and speaking on the capitol steps...effectively silencing the voices of those who are in favor of in-person learning. I think they played a big part in influencing the BOE to vote as they did.

1644: "I don't see how your data supports any argument that schools are especially risky"

She wasn't making an argument about risk from that particular data. She was only giving a counterexample to newhavenishome's blanket statement that no teacher has ever caught covid at school and died.

NHIH: "it does not state the disease was contracted from students."

It also does not state that the disease was not contracted from students. It is silent on the topic, because we generally don't have public access to contact tracing data. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

NHIH: "Do you accept the fact that these people could have caught COVID from somewhere else besides the classroom?"

Of course, for some at least. And do you accept the fact that some of them could have caught it in the classroom?

NHIH: "Has there been a higher amount of teachers dying from COVID than other occupations?"

Probably not, because until now, schools have mostly been closed! I sincerely hope we will still be able to say the same at the end of October, but I have grave doubts.

I support teachers. That is why my 4 year old is participating actively in remote learning even though I think it is too much screen time, over stimulating, and exhausting for my child. I recognize how hard my child's teacher is working to make the best of a challenging situation, and I want the teacher to be successful. I also know teachers who want schools to reopen.

I still believe (and there is data to support this) that it is possible to reopen schools safely. There are so many costs to keeping schools closed, and we need to work hard to get to the point where we are ready to reopen schools. I agree with others that a weekly status report would be immensely helpful. We just want to know that work is happening and the district is still moving toward the hybrid option.

PlayingWithNumbes: Ae you saying teachers have died after contracting CoViD-19 in a school setting? Where, when? The other links lack any evidence for fatal school transmission. Do the math. BTW, acknowledging reality doesn't mean I lack compassion. Expecting no deaths ever when the disease is endemic is being compassionate: it is being delusional.

Dear Jill- thanks for making sense. We certainly can't isolate the individual virus that infects us but being placed in close quarters in NHPS with students from everywhere is not a safe place/

Dear Beaverhills-- I hope you will limit online time for your 4 year old. It is totally inappropriate. I also find pre school to be a general waste of time. I see no academic advantage that students who have preK vs those who not. They are indistinguishable--- It is true day care by another name.

I have learned so much about the vitriol of parents and a public enraged because they cannot be liberated from their children and mostly because they cannot have things the way THEY WANT/NEED.

Health first, people--- NHPS may go from laughingstock to beacon when COVID starts climbing again

Dear 1644-- I like your thought - close the schools and I say also shut down virtual , since people think it is so ineffective. Stop paying teachers and let them collect unemployment/food stamps/ husky/ whatever else there is. It will save taxpayers money ( and that's all that really matters in the end.) Of course, parents will still have to figure out what to do with their children. Let's try it!

1644 - no, that is not what I am saying (however, I think it is nearly impossible to really determine where someone really caught the virus from (unless an individual in your family whom you have spent a lot of time with has the virus) since there is always the possibility that there was an asymptomatic person in the school where they worked that could have spread it). Anyways, comments like that just make it sound like the one or two individuals that MAY get the virus and have severe complications or die from it really don't matter since it is only 1 or 2. Those 1 or 2 are someone's family members. And Technically, we still don't know if people who are asymptomatic (or even those with a mild case) can suffer long term complications); it hasn't been around long enough to make that determination).

Anyways, I digress.

NewHavenisHome - do the articles confirm that they DID NOT get it from school? And as I said above - how can the point of infection really be determined?

SMDH - if teachers have so much influence, the education of your children who look a lot different! Beginning with LESS screen time for the younger children during the 10 weeks!

At this point I am much less interested in the back and forth that is going on in the comment section and only wish to amplify what I commented on previously and echo beaverhills statements:

It is possible to reopen schools safely. There are so many costs to keeping schools closed, and we need to work hard to get to the point where we are ready to reopen schools.

A weekly status report from the BOE would be immensely helpful. We just want to know that work is happening and the district is still moving toward the hybrid option.

I like the idea of a school by school checklist and weekly updates. NHPS should also consider opening those schools that can be opened and then focus on the ones that need more work.

Jill/PlayingWithNumbers- I'd bet my last dollar that the NYC teachers union would be screaming it from the rooftops if any of the cases cited in your article were contracted in a classroom setting. I am sure that contract tracing would have found that out. There are many studies (NIH, Pasteur Inst. ) stating the lack of evidence of spread in the classroom. CT DPH states just yesterday that any recent outbreaks are from small gatherings and colleges, not from school re-openings.

Also, New Haven has a highly successful contact tracing program that has been modeled throughout the nation. We should be able to control any positives that may occur.

@PlayingWithNumbers-Really?! So, you're saying that groups that advocated hard for remote learning--traveling up to Hartford, speaking from the capitol steps, caravaning around New Haven, attending BOE meetings, publicly calling out the rest of us (including teachers who want to be back in classroom, btw!) who just want our kids back in school as horrible people who lack compassion--had no influence? Absurd! Why did people advocate so hard for remote learning? Because they wanted to influence the people that have the power to make those decisions! And, you know what, it worked!

@JustAThought-Agreed! We need to know what work is being done now to safely move toward at least a hybrid option after 10 weeks. You're right, there are so many costs to keeping schools closed, but I'm afraid that too many people have deemed remote learning a success and this is how it's going to be for the rest of the school year. Maybe remote learning is best we can do for now, but it is not developmentally appropriate (especially for young children), and we need to be moving toward some type of in-person instruction. The kids need to be back in school!

Dear newhavenishome--- weekly updates you want added to the plates of the teachers? Really? How about daily updates? How about hourly updates?
Then, teachers can spend ALL DAY updating you , rather that trying to teach and adapt and master the online technology , while at the same time being held accountable for contacting every MIA student and parent.... sounds like a plan!.

CityYankee: Yes, close the schools and layoff the NHPS teachers and administrators. Give parents vouchers they can use for independent, charter, religious, a suburban school, or private tutoring or setting up "pods". All those schools are getting it done while NHPS is paralyzed by fear.

CityYankee-I am suggesting weekly updates from NHPS Administration and BOE on the status of reopening schools. I'm not asking teachers to do anything, so calm down and don't be so quick to assume every comment is a ding at your over-worked and under-appreciated teachers.
Contrary to your beliefs, us non-teachers are dealing with the same work and family stressors. You seem to think we are all shirking our parental responsibilities to go off day drinking. WRONG.

We gotta get these kids back in class STAT!

CityYankee--- I don't believe anyone was asking or expecting teachers to provide weekly, let alone daily updates on anything. Its about the desire for the Board of Ed to be transparent throughout the ten week period that schools are remote, providing weekly updates as to the progress being along the way....

Six months of confusion and a lack of national response. Teachers, students, staff and administration work very hard with a lack of adequate resources. How much death is acceptable? The level of technical readiness is also not adequate. Equity has been unequal with just computers previous to the pandemic. Resources, training, developmental appropriate goals are all necessary. Our community needs to offer help not useless criticism. Saying that schools need to be open without an adequate solution does not help. We can support our teachers and students. This is an opportunity for creative ideas to help students learn.

Why isn't anyone talking about the graphic that jumps off the page like a two ton elephant?

20% of New Haven students are chronically absent.
20% of New Haven students are chronically absent.
20% of New Haven students are chronically absent.

And it's been that way for FOUR Years!

Dennis Serfilippi

I have not joined this debate because I don't know enough to make a real contribution. But I do think it would be useful and relatively straightforward to identify the characteristics of the students who are not logging on, using aggregated data. I suspect students from very low income families, English language learners, and special needs students are disproportionately represented. I also think the BOE could map which geographic areas have particularly low attendance. This would be useful in identifying areas where poor Internet connections are part of the problem.

Looking forward, this will not be the last time students are unable to be in school buildings. There will be future disease outbreaks, even if they do not rise to the level of pandemics. And there definitely will be winter storms that will close schools. Hopefully the pandemic will ebb in the relatively near future. When it does, it would be useful for the BOE and other stakeholders to undertake a lessons learned review.

@ newhavenishome & 1644 -
Your assertions of no proof remind me of the tobacco industries successful decades of lobbying, and of the several news stories I heard in April about how New Orleans' spike "might be" related to the Mardis Gras crowds. We have very little information about this virus specifically, but a lot more about virus transmission in general, and it is reasonable to suspect that larger group sizes increase risk. I do love the idea of the BOE publishing a list of the things that need to happen.

NHPS refugee: Your analogy is false. The evidence that smoking caused various diseases, notably lung cancer, was based on large studies that showed smokers suffering from those diseases at statistically significant higher rates than non-smokers. If teaching caused CoViD-19 infections, teachers would develop it at greater rates than the general population. The opposite is true. The NYC citation showed teachers dying at one tenth teh rate of the general population. In Sweden, where schools remained open with essentially no precautions, teachers had a below average chance of getting infected. If teachers want no risk, live on an island, fish or grow your own food, and don't seek medical care when you are ill. My guess is most teachers have been out and about in the general population, shopping, perhaps going to restaurants, seeking medical care when they felt poorly, perhaps ordering some delivery, but expecting others, waiters, delivery people, store clerks, truck drivers, healthcare workers, to assume some risk on their behalf, and everyone to continue to pay their salaries through taxes, yet do not want to do their own jobs. Did teachers (generally) take their loved ones out of nursing homes, and lobby for healthcare workers to be paid while giving the teachers online advice on how to care for their loved ones? Note, the Sturgis experience shows that large crowds aren't terrible when reasonable precautions are taken (unlike Fat Tuesday). The infection rate in Sturgis is no higher than anywhere else in the state, and only one of 400K attendees died of CoViD-19, a rate much lower than the general population.

@ 1644 -
I am aware of the mountain of evidence needed for the correlation between lung cancer and smoking to be recognized as causation, and it was what made me make the comparison - I hope it takes less time for people to recognize that clustering children increases transmission. My skepticism about NHPS opening safely is both specific and grounded in my experience - while I admittedly have never taught in Sweden, I have taught in a few NHPS schools as well as several out of New Haven. I assert that in each of the metrics of operational management, respect for teachers, and holding students responsible for reasonable compliance, NHPS is an outlier, and not in a good way. I would love to see a BoE list of tasks necessary to open, but suspect there is just a buck being passed around Gateway Center.

Refugee: "I hope it takes less time for people to recognize that clustering children increases transmission."
Since people are the vector for this disease, any contact between people will increase transmission. Ko and others, however, have said that children are, to put it in electrical terms, poor conductors. The NAS and pediatricians have said that the harm caused by opening schools are lesser than the harms of keeping schools closed.
As for NHPS, it does seem to be an outlier. The state told districts to develop three plans. NHPS seems to have had half a plan. The BoE seems clueless. Zero risk is not realistic. I am sure Col. Hernandez in Branford said where do we want to go, and how do we get there, then set out specific milestones to be achieved before opening. BAMCIS!

To those of you who haven't seen the checklist submitted by the BOE members who voted for remote learning, here it is.


Four Key Points for a Safe Return to In-Class Schooling

Of course NHPS has a "list" to reopen safely. It's more like a huge well thought out well laid out plan of action taking up several pages as a mere "list", like one makes for the grocery store, would not cut it. Have you not attended any of the public BOE meetings?! It's not as simple as some of you seem to think. There are SO MANY considerations to think about from student movement from place to place, to money for supplies and staffing, to wait time to receive said supplies, to where to plug in computer systems if the lab has to be rearranged for non face to face social distancing. You have no idea!

On another note, after only 4 days open, WHHS has to shut down for sanitizing. COVID cases spreading already. So do you think that sort of situation is any better for children or parents trying to create a schedule?...The inconsistency of bouncing in and out of school, from in person to online and back for a few days and then back out again?

Please. Please. Stop with the complaining and criticism about all of us and all of it. It's getting SO OLD! Everyone is doing the best they can. Accept the situation at hand, make the best of it, and move on already!

It's 8:00 AM. An hour before I officially start work but I'm logging on. Also spent about 3 hours yesterday (Sunday). Just one example. But yeah, we're not working hard to prepare and provide the best experience possible for students.

@ Dennis Serf - 80% in school includes the dozens of kids who show up to high schools and leave after a period or two. They are counted at present and often graduate on time somehow.

It's helpful to see the checklist Darnell shared, thank you!, (though maybe something is missing from it? It looks cut off) and the agenda for this evening's board meeting. I think a lot of the comments here show that parents (and I would assume teachers) feel frustrated not having more info since the decision to start the year remotely was made last month. I hope this is the beginning of more regular communication on the status of reopening, which would certainly be in line with the goals of the checklist.

It was cut off, sorry. Part 2

part 3

g. Training for teachers and parents. Proper training for remote only and blended instruction that is discipline specific.
h. Enrichment Teachers - detailed district wide plan for enrichment teachers (higher risk teaching 250-600 students).
i. Provide adequate tech for teachers with more tech to support contactless work grading & feedback, including portable mics for teachers so students can hear them under shield and masks
j. Extra sick time for staff who contract COVID on the job
k. Written protocol for students who miss time for COVID illness
l. Response to rising infection rates – Written protocols on a school by school basis for determining when schools go to full remote
m. Develop personal kits of supplies for each child (since sharing is not allowed). Detailed plan for elimination of shared supplies.
n. Pen for tablet/Chromebook use for each student.
o. Water (since fountains are off)
p. Ventilation Systems - Written certifications from health department regarding safety of each school's ventilation systems
q. Written protocols on how classrooms are sanitized during the day, more custodial staff added during the day. A schedule for cleaning and disinfecting around the building

part 4

@ John Tulin - WOW! I honestly never thought about this, but it makes sense. These are the issues that conveniently get left out of the conversations when we hear the BOE and NHPS asking for more money. And these are the issues we don't hear about when people complain that "there are no jobs". There are plenty of jobs in this country, but few for people without a high school education.

This checklist and status report is included with today's board meeting materials: https://www.nhps.net/cms/lib/CT50000447/Centricity/Domain/29/OM 14SEP2020.pdf
There are a lot of accompanying materials; the checklist itself is not 102 pages.

Dear Darnell- teachers in the NHFT were approached by Yale to be part of a study that involved testing. What happened to that?

If teachers do go back in; should they not be tested for active COVID as well as COVID antibodies? Isn't that the safe thing to do?

Thank you for your extensive list. How much of it will be done before the BOE and Mayor cave in to the raging mob of parents and business owners? They put profit before people and it is shameful.