In today's newsletter to the Bethel Public School community, Superintendent of Schools Christine Carver said that as we enter the holiday season while seeing a spike in cases in the country, state and region, it is critical that we work as a community to stay safe.
In her communication yesterday, Carver indicated that Bethel was identified as being an “orange” alert community because of the spike in cases. "It is likely, in the next several weeks, that we will be red, if we do not change community behavior," she said.
Through contact tracing, Carver says that all cases from Bethel are from three primary sources, social gatherings, spread within families, and sports.
Please read Carver's complete update below.
With Halloween coming up, I urge you to follow the Department of Public Health Halloween Guidelines to keep your family safe. Things to avoid are any social gatherings, particularly indoor Halloween parties. If you choose to engage in thick-or-treat activities, there is very specific guidance to minimize risk of spread. Remember, always wear a mask, remain at a social distance, and wash hands frequently. The safety of our staff and students is always our top priority.
I have communicated repeatedly that we believe learning is most effective when it is in-person and better for our students’ social emotional well-being. Based on guidance from the Department of Public Health, we will maintain our current model, unless we begin to see transmissions within the schools or have staffing impacts due to positive cases or needing to quarantine, even if we are in the “red” alert level. In his press conference yesterday, the Governor highlighted data on the rates of positive cases within schools based on learning models.
The highest rate of change in school positive cases is among remote learners. The theory is, because schools implement, with fidelity, mitigation strategies, it is helping to reduce the spread of the virus. As you know, I notify all families of positive exposures with our schools by email. Those letters are also posted on our COVID-19 website under district communications. I did want to make you aware that the state is collecting and publishing data by school.
This state data collection not only includes exposures in school, but also includes students on distance learning, and students and staff who might have tested positive, but had no exposure within the school setting. Please note, the data is not updated in “real time”, so it is always best to look at our communications as it relates to school exposures.
COVID FAQs
Did the district get additional funding to cover expenses related to COVID-19? Is funding only provided if we stay in an in-person model?
I have been asked if district funding is tied to maintaining an in-person model and if we moved to hybrid or remote, would funding be reduced or removed? The answer is no. In addition to our normal appropriations, the Bethel Public Schools received two additional grants, CARES funding and CRF (Corona Relief Funding). The total amount of those appropriations is approximately $789,000. The funding was allocated to support schools in implementing the mitigation strategies, but if we were to shift models, it would not result in any loss of funding. In general, the funds help to support purchasing PPE, cleaning, enhancing ventilation systems, staffing to enhance social distancing and other mitigation measures. Decisions regarding the implementation of learning models (inperson, hybrid or full) are only made based on the safety and health of our students and staff.
If there is a positive exposure in a school, we notify everyone in the district (via email). If your child was a direct contact (less than 6 ft, more than 15 minutes, with or without a mask) you would be called (by school staff) personally to be informed. If the exposure is in a classroom, we would call the whole class. For all other cases, it would be specific to the situation. Families would be called only if there was direct contact.
How do you contact trace?
In contact tracing, first we identify the dates of exposure. We trace the positive individual by looking at every interaction the person had (within the school, on bus and/or extracurricular) two days prior to the date of the positive test OR when the person was symptomatic. As an example, based on timing, an individual could be symptomatic on a Monday, if you go back two days (Saturday and Sunday) there might not be any effect in the schools. Through that process, we identify who are direct contacts (less than 6 ft, more than 15 minutes, with or without a mask) and ask them to quarantine for 14 days. In a situation where the exposure is in a classroom, typically, in an abundance of caution, the whole class is asked to quarantine.
Why do you sometimes quarantine a class and not the whole bus?
First, not every exposure involves the bus. In a classroom setting the students are together over a period of 6.5 hours. On a bus, it is a much shorter period of time. In addition, students stay in the same seat on the bus. We view the bus video to look at who was within 6ft for less than 15 minutes. We can also see mask compliance, the length of time the positive case was on the bus and who they interacted with (within that 2-day exposure period). Generally, we only need to quarantine students within 3 rows or a grid of 6 seats of a case.
If I am anxious about the new rise in cases and want to switch my child to distance learning, can I do so for a shorter period of time?
Last time you asked us to remain on distance learning for the entire semester or trimester…. Yes. We understand and can be flexible. Please call your child’s administrator to discuss what you are thinking and you collaboratively develop a plan as to the length of the switch.
Why can’t I elect just to go back to hybrid?
It is very complex for staff to manage three different learning models simultaneously. If we had an emergency or had to contact trace, it is very difficult to know who is where and when. It is also very difficult for planning instruction.