All Public Schools Closing Starting Friday

All New Haven public schools, senior centers, and libraries will close indefinitely beginning Friday as part of the city’s latest effort to stem the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The decision comes one day after officials closed Nathan Hale School following the discovery that a guardian of a student had come into contact with the virus, shown symptoms, and was present in the building.

“We are closing all New Haven Public Schools starting tomorrow, Friday, due to the growing concern regarding the spread of COVID-19. There will be no school tomorrow or next week,” school system parent engagement coordinator Danny Diaz (pictured) said in a noon robocall made to all public school parents.

“The city and Department of Education will make a determination” whether and when to reopen the schools, he said. The robocalls went out in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Pashto, and Arabic.

As of now, no one has tested positive in New Haven for coronavirus.

Mayor Justin Elicker, city Health Director Maritza Bond, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ilene Tracey, and schools Chief Operating Officer Michael Pinto offered more details at a 1:30 p.m. press conference on the second floor of City Hall. (Watch it above.)

They said the schools are gearing up to offer online learning through Google Classroom. But at first, kids will be off.

“We have been ahead of the game in making preparations before this happened,” Tracey said. ​“Teachers will still be available to make sure that kids have access to Google Classroom, particularly in the high school level.” He said that teachers are also working on putting together print-out packets for those students who do not have reliable Internet access at home.

Elicker said parents should expect an extended break.

The city is in conversations with the state to waive the annual requirement that schools have 180 days of instruction.

(Update: On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order that will require schools be in session for 180 days or by June 30, 2020 at the latest. ​“This means that if a school has not been in session for a total of 180 days by June 30, the school district has the authority to make that date the last day of the school year,” a press release from the governor’s office read.)

Officials are also working on getting meals to kids who rely on free breakfast and lunch. The target start date is Monday, said Pinto. ​“There are some administrative and regulatory hurdles that we’re working out.”

He said the city will need to get some waivers from the state and federal governments in order to essentially extend the summer meals program.

“Our target is to have 39 schools available,” he said. Students will be encouraged to walk to the nearest school to pick up a meal once the meal program is up and running.

“It’s at times like these that we define what kind of community we are – New Haven is a community that works together, that supports each other, that does our part as individuals for the benefit of the whole,” Elicker said.

Tracey confirmed that school buses will be picking students up from school following their usual schedule Thursday afternoon.

New Haven State Sens. Martin Looney and Gary Winfield and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro praised the decision to shut down the city’s schools in email statements sent out Thursday afternoon.

“The closing of schools and other major gathering places is a necessary and scientifically proven measure to curb the spread of viruses including COVID-19,” Looney wrote.

“Today’s decision reflects the critical preventative actions communities need to take to slow the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of everyone,” Winfield agreed.

“I have deep respect for the decision Mayor Elicker and city officials made today to close down New Haven Public Schools,” DeLauro wrote. ​“I know our local leaders did not take this decision lightly and that it is done to protect our kids’ and their families’ health. The Mayor’s decision underscores the urgency for Congress to act — immediately — to ensure kids and seniors who rely on school meals and Senior Nutrition programs do not go hungry, as well as emergency paid leave and paid sick days for families so they can take care of their loved ones.

“The coronavirus pandemic is turning people’s lives upside down right now, and we must take decisive action here in Congress for families so they do not fall through the cracks. Every minute counts.”

Bring On The Grandparents

Tom Clarino, a retired software engineer, dropped one grandchild Friday morning off at Benjamin Jepson Magnet School. He had a second grandchild in tow — because she’s a student at Nathan Hale School, which had already closed down.

Clarino said he is ready to take care of his two grandkids during school closings. ​“I’m retired. My job is hanging out with the grandkids. It’s as good as it gets,” he said.

Other parents interviewed outside Jepson, Fair Haven School, and Truman School praised how administrators have handled the crisis and kept them in the loop.

The prospect of extended closings still unnerved some parents who worry about child care and work.

“If she is home, I stay home, and lose money,” one Jepson parent, who lives in Guilford, said of his daughter. (He declined to give his name.) He said he had no other arrangements to back him up, he said.

“That’s money. I need to work, and there is no Plan B,” said the mom of another kindergartener who was rushing into her car.

Jessica Rodriguez, mom of a Fair Haven School fifth-grader, said she’s OK with closings, as long as they last.

“Whatever’s good for my kids,” said the mom of a third and fourth grader.

If the kids have to stay home, Rodriguez said she heard packets will be prepared so the kids have work to do.

Francisco Pena said he’s prepared for that too, including working on the computer with his son. ​“We have an app that we can do reading with him,” Pena said. And ​“I can teach him something” as well.

In fact, he’s expecting longer closings, or so he’s heard, informally, from the teachers. ​“And I can teach him something [on my own],” Pena added.

As Jennifer Torres dropped her two sons, ages 4 and 8, at Truman School in the Hill Thursday morning, she said she was already planning not to send them back starting Friday, because she wants to keep them safe from COVID-19. 

While many parents gave their kids a kiss goodbye at Truman, they also reminded them of cleanliness tips. Yahri Torres reminded her 7 and 8‑year-old daughters to stay away from classmates who may be sick. ​“Don’t be afraid to tell the teacher you need to move your seat,” she said.

Lulu Rivera told her 12-year-old son to remember to only cough into his upper sleeve and to wash his hands especially before eating his lunch.

“I’m not worried because I trust in God,” a family member remarked while dropping off Jampiel Villalonga (pictured) at Hill Central School.

Hill Central parent Crystal Gorham said it makes sense to close all the schools now the way Nathan Hale had closed. ​“When we clean our homes, it takes more than a few hours, so they need to close the schools and take their time to proactively clean. It takes time to be efficient and effective,” Gorham said.

An earlier version of this story, from Wednesday afternoon, follows:

COVID-19 Contact Closes Nathan Hale

City officials have decided to close Nathan Hale School at least for the rest of the week after ​“an adult suspected of having COVID-19” had ​“limited contact with the school facility and a student under their care attending the school.”

Meanwhile, all other public schools will close for half-days Friday and Monday so teachers can make distance-learning plans in case the rest of the system closes to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Those were among the latest COVID-19 developments Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic. And Gov. Ned Lamont announced that a third person in the state — ​“an elderly gentleman who lives in a private residence in New Canaan” — has been diagnosed with the virus and is being treated at Norwalk Hospital.

And Gateway Community College announced all classes will move online following Spring break, at least until April 5. All campus events scheduled for between March 14 and April 5 have been canceled.

The biggest new development was the Nathan Hale closing, and the first suspected New Haven coronavirus case.

“The New Haven Health Department is in contact with the family and have asked them to self-isolate. At this juncture, the City believes there is a low risk to students and are not recommending that Nathan Hale students or families self-isolate. The City and New Haven Public Schools want to aggressively reduce the chance of COVID-19, and will make a determination on when they will reopen the school. The New Haven Public Schools will notify parents on this reopening,” the Elicker Administration reported in a release.

​“Nathan Hale parents have been notified of the situation, and the City is with them every step of the way to ensure the safety of New Haven Public School students and their families.”

Mayor Justin Elicker, schools Superintendent Ilene Tracey, city Health Director Maritza Bond and other officials offered more details about the Nathan Hale closing at a 5 p.m. City Hall press conference (in above video).

The city plans to wait 24 – 36 hours, until Friday to start cleaning the school. Until then, officials plan to keep the building locked ​“to reduce the virulence” of any traces of the coronavirus, said schools Chief Operating Officer Mike Pinto (pictured at the press conference).

“We will go in and do a deep clean and disinfecting on Friday,” Pinto said. Officials will reassess at the end of the weekend whether to reopen the school on Monday.

In the meantime, officials will continue interviewing the adult who is suspected of having contracting the virus, according to Health Director Bond (pictured).

She said the person traveled to New York and did not show any symptoms of being sick for ​“four to five days” afterward. The person then ​“felt flu-like symptoms” and ​“contacted a health-care provider.” Subsequent tests turned up negative for influenza.

“Given the circumstances, we want to ensure the person is self-quarantined for the next 14 days,” Bond said. ​“We will be monitoring the person daily.

“We are interviewing the person extensively to identify other sources where the individual might have spent time.”

Superintendent Tracey (pictured) said her team is working with Nathan Hall staff to ensure ​“educational continuity” for students during the shutdown.

Bond and Elicker pleaded with people to wash hands thoroughly, avoid shaking other people’s hands, try not to get too physically close to people, and stay away from large public gatherings. They also urged anyone who feels sick to contact a healthcare provider by phone rather than showing up first at a hospital or doctor’s office and potentially infecting other people.

“We are all responsible for reducing the likelihood of the spread of the disease. That means we all have to be cautious,” Mayor Elicker stated.

“We are all working together to address this challenge. We can only successfully address it as a community.”

The school system alerted Nathan Hale parents and caregivers about the closing in a Wednesday afternoon robocall.

Other Closings, Measures Announced

The Nathan Hale closing follows a similar decision Tuesday by Southern Connecticut State University to clear students out of all buildings for four days to make way for an intensive, preventive cleaning due to a student’s contact at a conference with someone who turned out to have coronavirus.

Tracey announced the two systemwide planning half-days in a release issued earlier on Wednesday.

“Possible temporary closures of school(s) is imminent as we have seen taking place globally. The district has been working with teachers and administrators to develop a series of plans in case local health agencies and the State of Connecticut deem it necessary to close schools. To provide staff with time to organize materials, NHPS will have an early dismissal day this Friday, March 13, 2020, and Monday, March 16, 2020. Please contact your school for specific dismissal schedules.”

Teachers union President David Cicarella wrote to members on Tuesday recommending that they begin to prepare for the possibility of a two-week shutdown and ​“work through the process of how best to prepare .. electronic and print versions of meaningful materials for students.”

“We have also discussed with the superintendent the need to afford teachers the time to create this ​‘meaningful student work,” Cicarella wrote. ​“We have suggested releasing teachers from staff meetings and/or an early dismissal day for students whereby teachers would be freed up to work in concert with other staff members, as appropriate, to compose this student work. The superintendent is actively considering both options.

“Some schools have already directed staff to prepare work and set an arbitrary deadline for teachers to submit ​‘packets.’ We have spoken to the superintendent and the assistant superintendents and conveyed our reservations. They will address the respective buildings where this message has been delivered, as affixing a hard deadline to a policy that has not as yet been properly articulated nor vetted, is not advisable at this time.

“While certainly well-intended, those directives are being walked back until logistical and educational concerns are properly addressed. We recommend that you continue to think through what your student work might include and have professional conversations with colleagues to this end. Collaboration and sharing of ideas will undoubtedly yield far better educational results than working frantically to merely comply with an arbitrary deadline for a ​‘packet’ of student work.

“Additionally, the availability of appropriate and sufficient quantities of cleaning materials is a universal district concern.”

As New Haven weighs whether to follow some systems elsewhere in the country in closing all schools, debate has ensued about the merits and shortcomings of that approach. Click here to read a Chalkbeat article about the debate, and here for a Hechinger Report article arguing that virtual learning may ​“inflame inequality in schools.”

One sophomore active in student government — Spencer Greene, president of the sophomore class cabinet at ESUMS — wrote to the Independent to express his opposition to ​“the closure of a single school in the New Haven Public Schools District” rather than all schools

“The NHPS District is home to thousands of students. Many of these students are siblings or come into close contact with other students across the NHPS community. It is in the best interest of NHPS to close all schools if there is that much of a present threat of the coronavirus to close Nathan Hale,” Greene argued. ​“NHPS emphasizes community values, so protecting the community as a whole would be the proper decision to ensure student safety. Any introduction of the virus to the NHPS community will allow it to be spread throughout all of its schools.”

The Board of Education Monday night voted to restrict field tirips for now and prepare to get food to kids who rely on school meals in the case of a shutdown. Read more about that here.

Christopher Peak contributed to this story.