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11/17/2020 03:08 PMInterim Superintendent of Schools Dr. JeanAnn Paddyfote announced Nov. 13 that Daniel Hand High School (DHHS) will retreat to fully remote learning beginning Nov. 16 until at least Dec. 4, when the district will “review new data.”
Polson Middle School, the town’s two elementary schools, and pre-school students at TCLC will continue to attend classes fully in person, according to Paddyfote.
This decision came somewhat unexpectedly following a Board of Education (BOE) meeting on Nov. 10, when Paddyfote said that only a new executive order or an inability to cover classes would precipitate a longer-term closure.
“As long as we have classes covered, we have students in the building, then we’re going to remain open,” Paddyfote said at that meeting.
In a statement provided to The Source by schools’ Communications Coordinator Zoe Roos, Paddyfote said that while staffing was important, “potential shortage of staffing is not the single determining factor for putting a school on full remote learning. If other health factors indicate the need to transition to full remote, we are going to make that transition regardless of our staffing numbers.”
As of Nov. 10, 36 staff were unavailable due to quarantines related to the virus, according to Paddyfote.
On Nov. 12, Paddyfote said there were 13 active cases of the coronavirus in the school community, with 10 of those being staff or students at DHHS.
In her announcement on Nov. 13, Paddyfote said, “increase in positivity rate and rate of students in quarantine, and evidence of transmission among high school students at private social gatherings and non-school sponsored athletics, and attendance data of students opting into remote learning.”
Paddyfote did not say how many students had recently opted in to voluntary remote learning, but said that before going remote, about nine percent of DHHS students were fully remote—approximately the same that had opted out of in-person learning district-wide at the beginning of the year.
Lower positivity rates at the middle and elementary schools mean they will remain open, though Paddyfote said the district will continue to monitor these rates and make decisions “on a school-by-school basis.”
“Well over” 500 students have been involved in the contact tracing process, DHHS Nurse Supervisor Stephanie Lesnik told the BOE on Nov. 10, which includes students who were asked to quarantine, who had symptoms or tested positive, or who were identified as a potential exposure.
Madison had 245 total cases, with between 20 and 25 active on Nov. 10, according to Madison Health Director Trent Joseph, though he cautioned that number was changing every day.
Many other school districts are moving toward more remote learning as cases spike across the state, with towns from Darien to Westbrook announcing various measures to keep students home, from full district closures to temporary hybrid.
State Department of Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona has urged districts in recent weeks to stay open if possible, while the state’s largest teacher’s union, the Connecticut Education Association, has lauded “proactive” closure of schools and questioned preliminary data that shows a low rate of in-school transmission.
Contact Tracing
Joseph, Madison Director of Special Education Dr. Elizabeth Battaglia, and Lesnik spent a significant amount of time at the Nov. 10 BOE meeting walking through the process of contact tracing, with Lesnik thanking parents and community members for being “phenomenal” in working with health officials.
Joseph said that the number-one driver of cases in Madison is indoor dining, followed by small private gatherings, and third, athletics, with ice hockey and volleyball as culprits in that category.
As he monitors cases arising in Madison, Joseph said he often checks with school officials if the age of a positive case matches someone who might be involved in the school system. When they do identify a case, Joseph said he works with teachers, family members, coaches, and other child care workers to trace a 48-hour timeline (when they were most likely to be contagious) of that person’s movements, usually by telephone.
A close contact as defined by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), which would require quarantine, is anyone who has spent 15 minutes within 6 feet of a contagious individual in a 24-hour period. Teacher’s seating charts are one important resource, according to Battaglia, as every student in a classroom is not automatically quarantined if one student tests positive.
Where and how these close contacts occur vary tremendously depending on the building and classroom, with some desks separated by six feet or more, and others closer, according to Battaglia. Different schools also have different recess or lunch procedures, which have at least once meant a whole class had to quarantine, according to Battaglia.
“We are going to look at everything,” she said.
Health officials also use cameras on the buses to determine if a student had a close contact there, according to Battaglia.
Usually, parents or other potential contacts are reached by telephone, and can happen at any time of the day, with some taking place even late in the evening. Even this week, Battaglia said she and the health officials were going through contract tracing after receiving a positive test at 7 p.m., which was completed successfully, allowing all schools to open the next day.
The district will not notify the community at large until the contact tracing process is completed. Battaglia and Paddyfote emphasized that the schools reach out to every close contact, and that a parent not being contacted means that their student was not determined to have been exposed by the CDC definition.
Testing negative is not enough to get a student or staff member out of quarantine, according to Lesnik, with quarantines set firmly at 14 days based on onset of symptoms or the date of a positive test.
The sibling of a student who is quarantining is not necessarily going to be required to quarantine, as the sibling is “a contact of a contact,” according to Battaglia.
Both Battaglia and Paddyfote have emphasized that transmission is not primarily taking place within the schools, without explicitly saying it has never happened.
“They do say schools are a safe place to be because of all the mitigation strategies, and in Madison we were able to put many of these strategies into place and I am very proud of everything we were able to purchase that will make our schools a safe place,” Battaglia said.
“I think Madison is very fortunate to have these three highly dedicated professionals who are assisting the district with all the COVID-related matters,” Paddyfote said. “These people are working around the clock...I just can’t give enough kudos to the three of them.”
Lesnik and Battaglia also expressed sympathy for the families who have to deal with the stress and worry of getting these phone calls, saying they were ready and willing to support the school community in whatever way they could.
“People are nervous and people want some reassurance,” Lesnik said. “We want you to know that we are here as resources for you, we’re all doing this together. We’re happy to help answer questions and help talk you through the process. So lean on us.”
Contact information for district health staff is available at www.madison.k12.ct.us.