MIDDLETOWN — The Board of Education voted unanimously this week to send all students back to school four days a week using a phased-in approach.
Beginning Monday, pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students will return in person four days per week and have one day remotely, while the A and B alternating cohorts of students in sixth through twelfth grades will continue a mix of in-person and remote learning through April 12.
By April 16, Keigwin and Woodrow Wilson middle school students as well as juniors and seniors at the high school will be in the buildings. All high schoolers will be in person by April 19, according to the plan. The upper class students are returning first so they can take their SATs.
Parents of children in cohort C — those working entirely remotely — can choose to follow their course through the end of the year or go back next month. Wednesdays will remain under a remote learning model for all.
“I’m thrilled,” said Kristen Hoyt, parent of a Woodrow Wilson Middle School student, who advocated for sending all children back to classes. “Parents that want it are excited, but there are still some who are keeping their children in Cohort C, and I respect that,” she said. “I’m just happy now we have a choice.”
Parents who pushed for full reentry for all grades have been very vocal, sending emails and calling administrators, as well as posting on the Parents of Middletown CT Students and Middletown Parents In Support Of Returning To School Full Time Facebook pages, which have 1,800 and 293 members, respectively.
“There was some frustration,” Middletown Board of Education Chairwoman Deborah Cain said. “I can empathize with the parents as well as the children. COVID is not our fault. We want to make sure everyone is safe and our children continue to learn.”
“Most board members I talked to wanted the secondary students to return, but didn’t feel comfortable with (March 15),” for everyone, Cain said.
That approach will allow school officials to gauge how well the plan for younger students is working, according to Geen Thazhampallath, spokesman for the school district. The administration wants to avoid having students come back, and then having to send them home for hybrid learning if any issues arise, he said.
The first order of business for the board was to send grade schoolers back, Thazhampallath said. “The entire time, every teacher and administrator in every building has been planning for it. There are a lot of details that go into it. We want to be ready for any situation that could arise.”
The last year of remote and hybrid learning has not been easy on the board, Cain said. “The process was very taxing.”
There are many considerations that led to the board pushing off the older students’ return dates to next month, Cain said, including transportation, outfitting twice as many desks with dividers and spacing them out, as well as how comfortable teachers are with going back.
Administrators will also need to come up with a plan for students to eat lunch. They are now consuming the mid-day meal at their desks, Cain said. “What is going to be the safest way for everyone to be in the building and move, and ensure that safety measures are in place.”
“You have to plan stuff. These teachers have not been in school since last March,” she said.
Cain had expected all teachers to be vaccinated by the return date, but most have at least gotten their first shots. “The timing works out perfectly,” she said.
Hoyt is curious about what led education board members who voted against full reentry to change their opinion.
“Safety is always at the forefront of our decisions,” Cain said. “It’s time for them to get back to school. Everyone felt good about the decision. It wasn’t like we never wanted them to return to school.”
The reentry plan will only work if the number of COVID-19 cases remain low, both statewide and in the city, Cain said.
Another top priority is setting up a system to deal with the trauma and other effects on students’ social, emotional and mental well-being. The school board voted this week to set aside money to fund such a support system. The issue arose many times in the last year in discussions, the chairwoman said.
The school system has always had social workers and psychologists. “Next year, we know these students are going to need a lot of support. A lot of students have been traumatized, having depression — this is nationwide,” Cain said.
March 11, 2021 at 04:55AM
https://www.middletownpress.com/middletown/article/Middletown-schools-to-send-all-student-back-to-16015961.php
Middletown schools to send all students back to facilities by mid-April - Middletown Press
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