Superintendent: 8 New Cases in 3 Schools; 6 in Staples
According to Westport Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice, 8 new COVID-19 cases were reported as of last night among students and staff in the District. Staples High School had the highest amount of cases, with 6 reported just yesterday, and 18 in total. The school with the second highest amount of cases is Saugatuck Elementary School with seven cases. The district has a total of 39 probable or confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 159 staff or students quarantined.
From the Superintendent:
Dear Westport Families and Staff,
In our efforts to remain transparent with reports of positive Covid-19 cases associated with our schools, we will continue to provide these updates as information is confirmed. As of the time I am writing to you this evening we have 8 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 that came in yesterday and today. The reports came from the following schools:
Kings Highway Elementary School - 1
Bedford Middle School - 1
Staples High School - 6
Those impacted have been notified by school and District officials. As a reminder, families are asked to report positive of COVID-19 cases of students using our reporting voicemail or email regardless of whether the students are in remote or hybrid models of instruction. Please follow this link for more information on reporting.
Additionally, we want to remind families that students with pending Covid-19 tests should not return to school until receiving negative results. This approach is critical in helping us continue minimizing the potential for transmission in our schools.
Respectfully,
Thomas Scarice
Superintendent of Schools
Staples High School Celebrates December, January Students of the Month
From Staples High School Principal Stafford Thomas:
Principal Thomas has announced Staples High School's recipients for December and January Student of the Month:
Mary Bazile- Gr.9
Catherine Cunningham-Gr.11
Nicholas Porzio-Gr.9
Brandon Saunders-Gr.11
Tucker Peters - Gr. 9
Maya Vogelmann-Gr.11
Claire Railton-Jones- Gr.12
Autumn Smith- Gr.12
Matthew Lott-Gr.11
Logan Goodman-Gr.9
Sasha Hamer-Gr.12
The Students of the Month award program recognizes students who help make Staples High School a welcoming place for their peers and teachers alike. They are the “glue” of the Staples community: the type of kind, cheerful, hard-working, trustworthy students that keep the high school together, making it the special place that it is.
Students of the month are nominated by their teachers, who are asked to think of those students who come to school regularly, are friendly to the staff and to fellow students, and make positive contributions in class as well as the Staples community. In short, these students are all-around good citizens of our school. Students of the Month are not necessarily star athletes, high honor students, or lead performers, and even if they are, this award recognizes the positive attitude they bring to school every day in making Staples High School a genial place in which to learn and teach.
Board of Education: Sports Begin, Full-in School Planned, April Fools Vacation Nixed, and a 4.98% Budget Increase
The Board of Education’s meeting last night began with the health and medical insurance review from consultants, and continued to a capital projects forecast, a school and county health update with the superintendents plans to reopen the schools, a quick fix to nix an accidental vacation day on April 1st, and concluded after the Superintendent’s 2021-2022 budget discussions that surround a 4.98% increase.
Health and Medical Insurance
The Lockton Companies provided a review of health and medical insurance options for the upcoming year, one that sparked conversation among Board of Education members and Board of Finance members about the volatility of the current State of Connecticut health and medical insurance plan. COVID-19 was also given thought when discussing the mitigation of risk to the District with a possible influx of future non-emergent medical procedures being scheduled by staff members, ones possibly deferred due to the pandemic.
Lockton described hope in having firm numbers back from the private market by February 1st, however current memorandums of understanding between the District and unions were described by administrators as a “hurdle to jump” when thinking about switching plans.
Finance Board Chair Brian Stern and First Selectman Jim Marpe both ended the conversation with describing their willingness to work together as a Town, with Jim Marpe adding that “The opportunity to share the workload and risk is a good one and one that we owe to the taxpayers.”
The Westport Public Schools and Town of Westport has worked with the Lockton Companies since 2014, after a 2 million dollar snafu involving health insurance accounts caused them to seek out a health insurance and risk management consultant.
Capital Expense Report
Coleytown Middle School welcoming students back last week.
A report on the district’s capital expense projects was presented as a priority of projects was explained. The largest project in 2021 calls for a possible 1.2 million dollar floor replacement in the Staples High School Field House amongst other projects. A Long Lots School PTA member commented that the delay of replacing Long Lots Elementary School windows brings concerns of mold or similar issues previously experienced by Coleytown Middle School. The delay reports that the aluminum windows would be projected to be replaced in the 2023-2024 fiscal year for over $500,000.
Confusion was reported by Board of Education Chair Candice Savin as questions were raised as to the status of current fiscal year projects, which began to appear as behind projected schedules. Westport Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Elio Longo described a difficult situation with buildings closed due to the pandemic, and a subsequent challenge in getting out of state contractors into the schools to complete work. Savin requested a report next week to describe the situation more clearly for members.
COVID-19 Update and Superintendent’s Plans to Reopen Schools
Supervisor of Health Services Sue Levasseur gave her report on COVID-19 and the district, echoing a feeling that transmission rates within the school buildings still remain low. However, she anticipates COVID-19 case numbers to increase next week among students and staff as there is a gradual increase across the State, possibly caused by recent vacations by families and staff members. She stated that since schools returned from the winter recess, 32 cases have been reported in the district; 5 today.
Lavesseur gave hope for athletes as she stated a recent meeting of the CIAC and DPH described a January 19th start date for sports’ practices, and a February 1st start date for competitions, but only for certain sports such as basketball and hockey. Not included in those allowances are competitive cheer, dance, or wrestling. She reminded the Board that things would look different, such as “time outs for mask breaks” during basketball games, shorter seasons, and all of this riding on further DPH assessment of rising case numbers throughout the state.
The Superintendent said that principals worked hard to create plans for the reopening of schools, specifically for kindergarten - 8th grade learners. Although unable to provide specifics when asked by a Board member, he described that he is actively watching the COVID-19 numbers across the State and has confidence in his staff, saying “we’ll make plans regardless to come back, but will stay the course at this time.”
Two Board members described their feeling that urgency is needed in sharing a plan for returning children to school houses, such as a report during next week’s meeting. The co-presidents of the Westport Education Association commented publicly that they “do not feel it’s prudent to move forward with an all-in model at this time” and cited a forthcoming letter from the teachers’ union to the Board.
April Fools: Students Will Report to School on April 1st
Although the current calendar’s color-coding shows that students and staff have no school on April 1st, this was found to be erroneous by the District and will be remedied with three possible options - all include students and staff reporting to school on the Friday.
Superintendent’s Proposed School Budget Shows 4.98% increase, with Discussions Continuing
The Superintendent’s proposed budget totals at $128,013,115 for the 2021-2022 school year, which is a 4.98% increase of $6,076,627. The budget was presented on Friday to the Board of Education, with discussions continuing this evening on subjects such as Utilities. The presentation also included data that forecasts a slow decline in student enrollment, as well as a gradual increase in the percentage of students with disabilities.
School Week Starts with 4 New COVID-19 Cases in 3 School
The school weeks begins with a report from Westport Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice that there were four new COVID-19 cases reported tonight in 3 different schools, one case being in Stepping Stones Preschool. This is in addition to the COVID-19 dashboards count from 9:00 Sunday morning. The next update to the dashboard will be at 9:00 AM today.
From Superintendent Scarice, Sunday Night:
Dear Westport Families and Staff,
In our efforts to remain transparent with reports of positive Covid-19 cases associated with our schools, we will continue to provide these updates as information is confirmed. As of the time I am writing to you this evening we have 4 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 that came in today. The reports came from the following schools:
Stepping Stones Preschool -1
Coleytown Elementary School - 1
Staples High School - 2
Those impacted have been notified by school and District officials. As a reminder, families are asked to report positive of COVID-19 cases of students using our reporting voicemail or email regardless of whether the students are in remote or hybrid models of instruction. Please follow this link for more information on reporting.
Additionally, we want to remind families that students with pending Covid-19 tests should not return to school until receiving negative results. This approach is critical in helping us continue minimizing the potential for transmission in our schools.
Respectfully,
Thomas Scarice
Superintendent of Schools