Students in the Region 4 school system return for a full in-person start to the 2021–’22 school year on Thursday, Aug. 26.

The district intends to deploy COVID-19 mitigation strategies that are similar to those that were in place at the end of the last school year. However, with more knowledge on how the virus spreads, as well as access to a vaccine, the 2021–’22 school year in Region 4 holds the promise of resembling traditional schooling.

This is especially true as a remote option, where teachers simultaneously taught students online and in a classroom, will not be used this year, according to Superintendent of Schools Brian White at an Aug. 10 Board of Education (BOE) meeting.

And unlike the previous school year, when in-person learning was disrupted with school building closures because of the need to quarantine students and teachers, updated state guidelines mean there will be fewer individuals impacted by exposure to a positive COVID-19 case.

“Individuals who have been fully vaccinated and are asymptomatic will not be required to quarantine in the event that we determine that they were a close contact of a positive case,” said White.

Changes to the recommended distance between students, made by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this March, reduced social distancing guidelines to three feet from six feet in schools where there is universal masking and low community transmission.

This reduction in space further limits those directly affected by a positive COVID-19 case.

“Students who are greater than three feet away from a positive case would not be considered close contacts and therefore not subjected to a quarantine, provided that both students wore masks at the time of known exposure,” said White.

The use of cohorts, or grouping, of students will be reduced this coming school year, per state guidance, with a return to the traditional schedules at the middle and high school that allows students to use their locker in between classes.

In the 2020–’21 school year, it was recommended that interaction among different cohorts be minimized to limit the potential for COVID-19 exposure, which White said had an impact on student socialization.

“We found that cohorting at times would create conditions in the schools that students could find to be socially isolating, perhaps more so than any other aspect of our mitigation strategies,” said White.

White discussed the importance and benefit of having students interact socially among a larger group of peers and with different staff members and teachers, especially for the age group at the middle school and during recess at the elementary level.

“So, although we still will take reasonable steps to ensure that we’re cohorting to the extent that it’s advisable, we’re really going to be able to allow students to move more freely through the building and have much more opportunity for social interaction,” said White.

Another difference is that lunch will return to the cafeteria, or be in a group setting, instead of at individual desks in a classroom.

“We’ll be utilizing those [cafeteria] spaces to the greatest extent possible,” said White. “We are concerned about congregate settings, however, and so in cases where we don’t feel we can responsibly distance students socially in the cafeteria setting, in those instances we will be utilizing other spaces in the building where group seating is possible but in a manner that allows for the three-foot rule.”

Instead of receiving instruction in one classroom, students will also once again be able to travel to the classrooms of instructors specializing in art, music, and the Spanish language, with a focus on hand hygiene and sanitizing, especially when using shared materials such as art supplies or sports equipment.

Although after school activities and clubs will resume, the district has not made any changes to its policy on large indoor gatherings.

“When we look ahead to the fall and winter concerts, musicals, events that would typically have large numbers of people in an inside space in close proximity, we don’t anticipate a return to that just yet,” said White.

“That’s really going to be determined by the course of this virus and we’re very hopeful that we’ll have some positive updates on that as we get into the early fall, but as it stands, based on the current guidance, again, those large assemblies just aren’t advisable at this time,” he continued.

The district is also continuing to limit non-essential visitors to each of its schools, encouraging virtual meetings between parents and staff when feasible and asking that in-person meetings occur after school hours based on concerns related to virus transmission.

“We are hoping to welcome people into our buildings as much as safely possible. But again, that is an area that we’ll continue to work through as things unfold this fall with the virus,” said White.

The district’s efforts to reduce transmission through air ventilation and filtration remain ongoing, with mitigation strategies including opening of windows and doors, running exhaust fans and using high efficiency air filters in heating, ventilation, and air condition systems.

“So, everything that was in place last year to promote air circulation and that intake of fresh air will continue,” said White.

Like all schools in Connecticut, the Region 4 school system is operating under the executive orders of Governor Ned Lamont that requires face masks in schools and on school transportation for all students, teachers, and staff regardless of vaccination status. Masks are not required to be worn outside.

Lamont’s executive orders related to face masks in schools are set to expire, along with his state of emergency powers, on Thursday, Sept. 30.

It’s currently unclear whether decisions related to face masks in schools after this date will be made by local school and health authorities or will be continued to be made at the state level.

“We’ve been working very closely with our local health departments about how those decisions might be made,” said White. “We’re in very early conversation because, in truth, we’re still waiting to see what orders may come down from the State of Connecticut.”

If the school district was asked to make a decision related to mask use prior to the end of September, there are two major sources of data from which that decision would be based.

“Generally speaking, in addition to transmission rates, vaccination rates will be an important part of that conversation this fall,” said White.

Lamont mandated through an executive order issued on Aug. 19 that all staff of pre-K to 12 schools in Connecticut be inoculated against COVID-19.

The executive order states that the first dose of the vaccine for teachers and staff must be administered by Monday, Sept. 27. Those who are not vaccinated due to certain exemptions are required to be tested for COVID-19 on a weekly basis.