A month into the school year, with prevalence of the virus still remarkably low in Vermont, many districts are tentatively planning to expand in-person schooling.
Vermont took a local-control approach to reopening schools in the pandemic, and districts decided for themselves how much in-person instruction to offer students. A majority opted for some form of hybrid learning, although a significant number of more rural schools, particularly in the Northeast Kingdom, brought back younger students for face-to-face instruction from the start.
Public health experts have urged a return to in-person instruction, particularly in the younger grades, where community transmission is low, and Vermont’s positivity rate remains well under 1%. More research, meanwhile, was released this week by the CDC, adding to the growing body of evidence that suggests young children are substantially less likely to transmit the virus than teens and adults.
The Mount Abraham Union School District, which serves five rural Addison County towns, will bring all students pre-K-6 back for in-person instruction five days a week starting Oct. 5. A remote-only option will continue to be offered to families who choose it.
Like districts across the Champlain Valley, Mount Abraham began the school year in a hybrid model, with students receiving two days of face-to-face instruction a week. Superintendent Patrick Reen said the district conferred with the Health Department and studied its staffing levels, safety and health practices and the rate of infection within the district before deciding it was time to try a full return to class.
“I feel confident we can safely bring our younger students back for more in-person instruction,” Reen wrote in an email. “Having said that, as we approach flu season, I hope Vermonters will continue to be vigilant about wearing masks, washing hands and practicing physical distancing.”
Vermont has had only four positive cases of Covid-19 in schools since classes began on Sept. 8, in Washington, Windsor and Orange counties. A fifth presumptive positive case has been reported in Caledonia County, and state officials said Tuesday they were awaiting confirmation from a PCR test.
But while Covid-19 briefly shuttered a handful of schools this fall, the cases have also served as evidence that the systems in place appear to be working. Coronavirus cases in K-12 settings have not been linked to outbreaks, and in every instance thus far, contact tracers have not seen evidence of transmission of the virus occurring in school, Health Commissioner Mark Levine said Tuesday.
In the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union, Superintendent Jeanné Collins said school officials had planned from the beginning to move to more in-person instruction if health conditions and staffing levels allowed it — and they have.
The supervisory union initially brought back only kids in pre-K-2 for in-person instruction in the morning. On Oct. 5, K-4 students in all elementary schools will attend school in-person, also just in the morning, five days a week. Two weeks later, if all goes well, younger children will be brought back for full-day, in-person instruction four days a week.
“And that’s so that kids and teachers both can kind of get used to the new routines,” she said.
Collins said full-day, in-person instruction will also require Wednesday to revert to fully remote operations. Teachers must manage in-person instruction and virtual learning for families who choose not to return, and Collins said that was the only way the district could think to make the workload manageable for educators.
Physical distancing guidelines are also tricky for Rutland North, Collins said. Not all schools have the space to allow for distancing while all children are in the building. So, some students in certain middle schools will attend school on a hybrid schedule while others get four days of in-person instruction.
Many districts aren’t quite ready to make the transition, but are trying for a mid-October switch. In Milton, a committee is reviewing possible scenarios and timelines, and school officials hope to start bringing younger students back, in a phased manner, on Oct. 12.
“For us, the key factor is sufficient staffing, as we still have several key vacancies to support increasing student learning while carrying out all safety and health measures,” Milton Superintendent Amy Rex wrote in an email Monday.
Don Tinney, president of the Vermont-NEA, said it’s probably good news that Vermont’s health officials feel comfortable enough to move to Phase 3 of reopening, which relaxed the state’s school reopening guidance. But he said the state still has work to do, both to keep prevalence of the virus low, and to make schools safe, especially where ventilation is concerned.
“One of the realities is that we’re moving into the cold weather, which is going to raise, again, the issue of our HVAC systems,” he said. “Because now a lot of schools are having classes outside, all the windows and doors are open. And we still have serious concerns about air quality.”
