Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Freeman is warning that a marked increase in virus cases within the school community continues to threaten the district’s ability to stay open, with a staffing crunch caused by quarantines leaving Guilford in a precarious position to cover classrooms, as the administration looks to recruit new substitutes.

While Freeman assured the Board of Education (BOE) at a special meeting on Dec. 7 that he is “enormously confident” that the schools continue to be a safe environment for students, it remains a possibility that buildings, or the whole district, could return to distance learning due to the “cascading effects” of required staff quarantines, he said.

“One positive student, one positive staff member can have multiple staff members that are required to quarantine,” Freeman said. “What that is affording us is the ability to compartmentalize and shift a portion of the district to that distance learning, which keeps those infections from spreading within the schools.”

After seeing 28 cases within the school community in the first 2 ½ months, the schools saw an additional 17 cases added in just about a week, according to Freeman. That has required classrooms, middle school teams, and a whole building (Adams) to spend various periods of time in distance learning, Freeman said—again, primarily due to the far-reaching effects of staff quarantines, and not due to concerns about inter-school transmission.

Of the 45 total cases that had been identified as of Dec. 8, 44 had been definitely traced to exposures outside of the school buildings, according to Freeman, with one single case unclear in origin.

In order to stave off staffing shortages, Guilford is taking advantage of a new executive order signed by Governor Ned Lamont that waives the requirement that substitute teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree. The schools will be recruiting college students—juniors and seniors—who are either home for the holidays or whose own remote learning schedule allows them to cover classrooms.

Freeman told the Courier that the state has made it clear that the broad need for substitutes and the importance of keeping in-person learning intact, as much as possible, to benefit student’s academic and mental health, justifies lowering the qualifications for substitute teachers.

Substitutes who are college students will mostly and whenever possible be placed in situations where the regular classroom teacher can be present virtually, according to Freeman, with the substitute taking on the in-person supervision of students while the teacher continues to direct lessons and activities.

“It could end up being a great learning opportunity for the college student and really help us through a tight spot with staffing,” Freeman said.

These younger substitutes would not be asked “often, if at all” to cover classes at the high school level, Freeman said. He emphasized that building principals and teachers will look to build relationships with these new substitutes and ensure they are placed in the best possible environment.

Freeman says he anticipates the need for this program, and a continued demand for substitutes to last through the remainder of the school year, or as long as the district retains in-person learning to any degree.

Depending on the district, substitutes often are required to go through at least a couple days of training and orientation, which will be difficult during the pandemic. Freeman promised a “rigorous” screening and application of candidates, but “limited” training with district staff before substitutes enter the buildings.

“We recognize that it is a lowering of qualifications, we’re very aware of that, and we’re going to be prioritizing those people to situations where the actual teacher is actually still there [virtually],” Freeman said.

At the BOE meeting on Dec. 7, Freeman praised all the district’s teaching and support staff and urged the community to keep safe practices both in and outside of schools.

“Schools are important; our kids need to be in school. Teacher’s deserve an enormous amount of credit from all of us for the work that they’re doing to keep those schools open, and I ask the community to keep allowing that to happen,” Freeman said.

Guilford Public Schools pays $90 a day for substitute work. Those interested can apply on the district website at guilfordschools.org.