Governor Ned Lamont Tuesday announced Tuesday that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he is ordering in-person classes at all K-12 public school facilities in Connecticut to remain canceled for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year and continue providing distance learning during this period.
Schools will also be required to continue providing meals to children under the school lunch and breakfast programs for students at home.
Jeff Leake, the President of Connecticut Education Association tells FOX61 News the next few months will be key as schools plan ahead.
“The conversations need to take place between our superintendents and principals and teachers trying to figure out how we’re going to get this done and ensure education is ongoing but also safety and health are primary as we move forward,” says Leake.
One aspect that districts need to reconsider is transportation.
“It’s getting students to and from school. Think about the school buses that generally are pretty populated with students and being able to separate them. Making sure they are wearing masks if that is what the protocol is going to be. It’s going to be challenge “ says Leake.
Schools will also have to rethink protocols to follow social distancing inside.
“Hallways, lunchrooms, all of those are going to be challenged and we just need to make sure everyone understands protocols that will be in place,” says Leake.
Leake adds that some districts may transition to a blend of remote and in person learning in an effort to reduce class sizes. Many teachers switched to distant learning weeks ago now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor Lamont took to twitter Tuesday morning to give teachers a shoutout
“We’ll all be back late summer ready to go. We miss you so much we appreciate the best teachers right here in Connecticut,” says Governor Lamont.
Gov. Lamont is expected to sign the executive order regarding the announcement later today and will be up on the government's website.
“I know how important it is for so many students and teachers to finish out the school year, and I was holding out hope – particularly for high school seniors – that we’d at least be able to complete the final few weeks, but given the current circumstances and to protect everyone’s safety, it has become clear that it’s just not possible,” Governor Lamont said. “I want to thank the many educators across our state who have stepped up to provide remote learning during this time, as well as the many staff members who’ve been putting thousands of meals together for students each and every day.”
Distribution of donated laptops and Scholastic books
The State Department of Education and the Governor’s "Learn from Home Task Force" continue to coordinate distribution of remote learning resources that have been donated to Connecticut, including 60,000 Dell laptops from the Partnership for Connecticut, and more than 185,000 Scholastic book packs for pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade students from the Nooyi family.
Due to global supply chain shortages during the pandemic, the laptops and book packs are arriving in staggered waves.
The governor said the task force has implemented a tiered shipment plan for the laptops in three rounds of delivery using a formula-based approach prioritizing equity, student need, and safe distribution.
The majority of the Scholastic book packs are expected to begin arriving from the manufacturer this week.
Last week, shipments of 340 book packs arrived at Bridgeport schools, and 119 arrived at Bristol’s Early Childhood Center.
Additional shipments to sites in Hartford and Norwalk are expected today and will continue over the next several days.
The first round of nearly 17,000 laptops, targeted for delivery around May 25, will be delivered to 19 districts where fewer than 60 percent of students have one-to-one device access at the school level.
The staggered shipment plans are focused on connecting students who have been identified as in greatest need as soon as possible.
Gov. Lamont tweeted a video today for National Teacher Appreciation Day where he says "we'll all be back by late summer ready to go".
Governor Andrew Cuomo last week announced that New York schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year.
On Monday, Governor Phil Murphy also announced that schooling will remain online for the rest of the school year.