ANDOVER, Conn. — While the pandemic has forced many things to change in our lives, the women and men at Andover Public Schools have made it their mission to push through.
Connecticut had its first confirmed cases of the virus in early March 2020, and a short time later, all schools canceled in-person learning for the remainder of the semester. The question remained: How would schools reopen in the fall?
Superintendent of Andover Public Schools Valerie Bruneau said by the time she came on board in the summer, the district had already started its planning process.
"Before the school year even began we had a reopening committee," said Bruneau. "We were looking not only in our neighboring towns and communities but all over the nation to try and see what the best mitigation strategies were going to be."
Andover Public Schools opened in September and Bruneau said the schools have remained open 94% of the time.
Bruneau acknowledged that leading up to the school year, people were fearful about how to return safely to the classroom. It wasn't just in Andover.
Many teachers and unions called on the state for protocols in spring 2020 for reopening. Schools never went back to in-person learning that semester, and over the summer, the state's Department of Education provided guidelines for teachers and school administrators to reopen safely.
In September, the Connecticut Education Association, which represents over 60,000 educators in the state, once again called on the state to implement certain safety policies. The CEA stated at the time that towns and cities across the state were ignoring COVID-19 safety protocols.
Bruneau said she had the support of the Board of Education and the community had come together to all "be on the same page" when it came to reopening. She said the cooperation was unique, resulting in a successful reopening.
COVID-19 in CT: Andover superintendent highlights school district's success keeping students in classrooms
When asked what other communities could learn from Andover, Bruneau cautioned to say that since Andover is a small town, not every other city or town in the state could do what they did.
"We called in parents to say, 'Hey, we need help with the children staying social distanced on buses'," said Bruneau.
The call to action resulted in more parents bringing their children to school themselves, leaving more room on the buses.
Bruneau also cited 'trust' as one of the main ingredients for the district's success with reopening their schools.
When it came to negotiating teacher contracts with the union, Bruneau said that she had only been on board for three-and-a-half months. But, everyone had come to the table and a few weeks later Bruneau said they had a four-year contract and a "memorandum of understanding".