New Haven remains one of the few school districts in the state to not have in-person learning, but that’s expected to change for some students.
“Come on, New Haven. I think you ought to take a look. You have a very low infection rate, and these kids have a chance, they ought to have an option to go to school,” said Governor Ned Lamont during a news conference.
It’s another push from the governor for New Haven to open up its classrooms. The district remains one of the few to stick to remote learning only with plans to stay that way for the first 10 weeks of school.
The district says during the second week of online learning, 90% of students engaged in at least one class. On Monday night, the board debated bringing back some special education students and English language learners.
“Students with disabilities that we’re trying to bring back are students who have significant problems with disabilities. These are students who, in some cases, are nonverbal or have limited verbal ability. They’re not ambulatory. Those are students who receive services primarily within the context of a specialized classroom,” said New Haven Director of Student Services Typhanie Jackson.
The district says 3,400 students are part of the special education program and proposed bringing back a maximum of 125 students across 11 schools for an initial return starting next week. Broken into groups, the students would have two days in the classroom a week.
The district says health screening and temperature checks will occur and high touch areas will be cleaned three times per day with a deep clean on Wednesday when no students are there. On Monday night, the board approved the plan for special education but decided to revisit bringing back English language learners, hoping to see a more in-depth plan.
