December 4, 2020
Dear Dr. Youngberg and Members of the Board of Education:
We are writing to express our alarm at the plan to return to school in the hybrid model on December 7, 2020. As expected, the Thanksgiving holiday seems to have been the impetus for an alarming rise in cases of Covid-19. According to state data, Windham has been among the top 30 communities in the state for its rate of Covid-19 infection since the beginning of November, with a case rate remaining above 50/100K—twice the threshold required by the state to move to fully remote learning. All available county and state-level data meets the thresholds for transitioning to fully remote learning.
|
Week 1 Cases |
Week 2 Cases |
Total for 2-week period |
2-week rate per 100K |
Total Tests |
Test Positivity % |
Start Date |
End Date |
__worst in state |
|
52 |
104 |
156 |
45.1 |
2,931 |
6 |
11/1/20 |
11/14/20 |
27th |
|
107 |
75 |
182 |
52.6 |
3,085 |
6.6 |
11/8/20 |
11/21/20 |
22nd |
|
99 |
81 |
180 |
52 |
3,015 |
6.9 |
11/15/20 |
11/28/20 |
27th |
More alarmingly, more recent numbers suggest intensifying transmission and illness in our community. According to the state data tracker, 42 new cases were identified on 12/3; this morning, Fire Chief Marc Scrivner alerted the town that we are on the verge of an outbreak, stating:
The warning is now. We have three days of increased COVID in the effluent. The scientists tell us we should see spikes in positive tests in another day or two. Yesterday was a spike, and we don’t know yet whether it was an aberration, or the beginning of a sustained increase. We can’t wait any longer for more data. . . . The Town of Windham is reviewing all safety practices this morning, and will implement immediate measures for staff and member of the public who need to interact with the Town.”
Many of the school districts in communities with this level of transmission have moved to remote learning through 1/19/2021 to slow transmission and protect their staff members and community. The table below represents the status of these districts. Of the 20 districts with up-to-date information readily available, 14 are currently fully remote; 2 more are remote at the middle and high school level while their elementary schools are hybrid. Five of the 22 districts are hybrid. We were unable to obtain information on seven of the districts.
|
Status Unclear |
Hybrid |
Remote |
|
Derby Sterling Winchester Franklin Plainville Middletown (mixed status?) Meriden (mixed status?) |
Hartford Bethel Stamford Norwalk (elementary only) Wallingford (elementary only) Prospect New London |
Plymouth Thomaston East Hartford Watertown Bridgeport Norwalk (hs/ms through 12/14) New Britain (through 12/11) Seymour Shelton Ansonia Hamden New Haven Wolcott Waterbury Wallingford (middle/high schools) |
While we continue to be told that “DPH continues to report that schools are not places where the virus is transmitted so from a public health standpoint being in school is safer than being in the community where mitigation strategies are not being followed.” this oversimplifies the situation considerably. There may not be evidence yet of virus transmission in schools; school has not been in session with community spread rates this high, so we do not know what will happen if we continue to offer in-person schooling. More importantly, to suggest that mitigation strategies are not being followed in the community is inaccurate and even insulting. For many of our members, scrupulous attention to mitigation and safety strategies is a fundamental part of their day-to-day lives, and the riskiest thing they do is report to work.
We urge you to protect our members and our community by shifting to fully remote learning until we see a significant decline in Covid-19 transmission in our community.
Sincerely,
Camie Niland-Poirier,
On behalf of the WFT Executive Board