New Haven shouldn’t be reopneing its elementary schools at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, argues a parent advocacy group.
The group — New Haven Public School Advocates, which has opposed reopening school buildings during the pandemic —make that argument in a statement released Monday.
The statement is in response to the city’s plan for a partial reopening for lower grades on Jan. 19.
Click here to read about the school system’s plan and reasoning.
Following is the text of the NHPSA statement:
The New Haven Public Schools’ proposal to reopen schools for in-person learning amid the highest rates of COVID-19 so far prompts deep concern. Two months ago, public health officials determined it unsafe to hold in-person school with a 7‑day average of 22.6 cases per 100,000 residents in the City of New Haven. As of Thursday, we face nearly triple that rate, 63.7 per 100,000. The public has received no new information on critical readiness measures, such as access to testing and vaccination; building preparation; safety and hygiene supplies and protocols; mechanisms for physical distancing; breakfast and lunch procedures; and transportation procedures. What changed to suddenly make in-person school safe in the middle of the highest peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with a more transmissible variant of virus now circulating?
Officials refer to research suggesting that children do not transmit COVID-19 as easily as adults, as well as data that surrounding districts have not experienced outbreaks. Unfortunately these arguments draw from only part of the still-evolving body of research on child transmission, as well as problematic state data. Moreover, studies concluding that schools can safely open during the COVID-19 pandemic generally caution this is the case only when transmission is low. A number of studies also identify a strong correlation between in-person school and community transmission — which suggests that the district’s reopening proposal presents a significant risk to not only New Haven Public Schools staff and families, but also to our city as a whole. And we are just beginning to understand new variants of virus, at least one of which appears to pose even greater risk and has just been found in New Haven County. Selected research is summarized on these slides and this fact sheet.
Unfortunately, the state also obscures and manipulates data on COVID-19 among students and staff in ways that hinder objective analysis and enable the unverifiable proclamation that schools are safe. And without widespread testing, we simply do not know how many asymptomatic COVID-19-positive children transmit the virus at school in the first place. However, we do know that during November and December 2020, clusters of 10+ cases were documented at schools in Danbury, Enfield, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Madison, Middletown, New Britain, New Canaan, Norwalk, Norwich, Prospect, Ridgefield, Stamford, Stratford, Waterbury, West Hartford, Westport, Woodbridge, and Woobury. In addition, there have been 3,918 COVID-19 cases in school staff and 9,212 cases in students statewide. New Haven Public Schools has thus far contributed only about 20 of those. By contrast, Hartford has reported over 270 student and staff cases, Waterbury has reported over 130, and Bridgeport over 80 (low estimates that could be up to 5x more, since the state reports weekly counts in the category of >6 rather than actual numbers). How many more contracted COVID-19 at school, were asymptomatic and/or never tested, and spread it to their families and communities?
Unfortunately hybrid learning is not a solution, as it fails to adequately address families’ childcare needs, children’s learning needs, or children’s social and emotional needs. All students receive less instruction under a hybrid model than under an all-remote program. The need to close school unexpectedly and for varying durations following cases and outbreaks creates continuous disruption and upheaval. Even with a deep bench of inexperienced substitutes, severe staffing shortages force further closures, layering additional stress and confusion atop our general anxiety. The cries of “irreparable learning loss” also do not account for our system’s ability to catch children up academically, as is done all the time with children who have gaps in formal schooling. However, we cannot bring loved ones back to life and don’t yet know whether we can resolve chronic conditions caused by COVID-19.
Some argue that families deserve “choice.” Yet “choice” in education creates the mirage of collective benefit when its real meaning is that some people get choice and others do not. In this case, school staff don’t get to choose. The people who will interact with students and their families in essential businesses and services that cannot be conducted remotely don’t get to choose. And when employers demand that caregivers return to in-person work once in-person school becomes an option, those families lose their ability to choose safety without imperiling their livelihoods. Meanwhile, a higher level of protection is hypocritically reserved for City staff and Board of Education members. Rather than retract their protections, we must continue to extend it to as many as possible.
We have come this far and are now on the cusp of mass vaccinations that will dramatically reduce our collective risk and, hopefully, enable a safe return to in-person school before the end of this academic year. The New Haven Public Schools can make its vaccination plan a priority and allow all staff the opportunity to be fully vaccinated by March. But right now is the worst possible time to compromise our values and buckle under pressure from Hartford. We will never know how many lives the Board of Education saved by choosing to stay remote. But there are people around our dinner tables today who would not be there if our district had followed the crowd. We should retain our independence, prioritize safety and stability, continue to make remote learning the best it can be until staff have the opportunity to be vaccinated, and invest in the partnerships, staff, and programs that will serve all of our children well on the other side of the pandemic.
As a New Haven teacher and parent, I completely agree with the New Haven Advocates. Why are we returning to school when the covid rates are so high? This has NOT been explained by Dr. Tracey or the mayor. Studies about covid in younger children are being cherry-picked to match the agenda of returning to schools. I understand that this is a challenging time for families, but sending students, teachers, custodians, lunch ladies, secretaries, etc... into schools is not the answer. Get adults that work in our schools vaccinated and then we should be able to return safely.