(Additional reporting by Max Schreiber)
Hamden Public Schools will transition to fully-remote learning from Nov. 23 to Jan. 19, following a unanimous decision from the Hamden Board of Education
In response to the decision, Mayor Curt Leng released a statement.
“Our superintendent and Board of Education took the right steps tonight, with no perfect options on the table,” Leng said in a statement.
Hamden has recently seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases. For every 100,000 people, Hamden has had 36 news cases per day. The decision to shift to remote learning comes a week after Hamden went to a red alert level for COVID-19.
“Their actions will reduce spread among staff and students,” Leng said in the statement. “During a time where health experts are saying we will see a massive spread and face extreme challenges if family and friends don’t listen to strong guidance.”
Due to the recent COVID-19 spike, surrounding towns such as Milford and Shelton are following suit with Hamden, while Cheshire is not.
This past week, Cheshire High School was shut down after a food service worker was experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms. However, the school plans to return to in-person instruction on Thursday if the employee’s PCR test comes back negative.
Moira Aitro, a speech pathologist at Darcey School of Cheshire Public Schools, said there is a growing concern among Cheshire’s teachers that they should go remote as they enter the holiday season. However, Aitro said that Cheshire plans to stay in person for the time being, which is worrisome for the Cheshire teaching community.
“Although Cheshire continues to take every precaution to ensure the safety of our school communities, it is getting scary for most,” Aitro said. “I think every school system should do what works for them based on cases and attendance of teachers due to COVID-19.”