By Mackenzie Meaney
Special to the Voice
With the start of school only weeks away, parents and students are anxiously awaiting to hear what the plans each school district has for reopening schools. West Haven is no different, as a Sept. 8 scheduled opening is fast approaching.
Parents have a decision to make, on the basis of whether or not they elect to send their child to school this year. A decision like that is not an easy one to make, and many parents are still weighing those options according to school officials.
In a meeting last night, the Board of Education determined it would opt to go along with a plan submitted to state officials in July.
The meeting was held in the new high school auditorium Monday night, in front of a socially distant crowd of parents in the district and broadcasted on YouTube. Parents in the district had the ability to speak directly to members at the beginning of the meeting.
The “public portion” as it was called, lasted more than an hour, with parents voicing their concerns over the proposed reopening plans given earlier in the summer.
Superintendent Neil Cavallaro took the questions, and told parents any final decisions would be his.
“This is my responsibility to make a decision for the students. A decision has to be made, and in 35 years I never thought I would have to make a decision like this,” he said.
The plan is to move forward with their Plan B for reopening schools. Plan B consists of a modified hybrid schedule. This means that students will be going to school five days a week, but follow a half-day schedule. They will take their lunches home, cohort in classrooms, and utilize bigger spaces like the cafeteria if necessary to comply with social distancing rules.
Cavallaro also touched on how the board pushed heavily to have this Monday night meeting in-person, to get input from the public. He said it was important to have the voices of the residents of West Haven present because these are their schools, these are the institutions they send their children to, and they are entitled to have something to say on behalf of their child in a decision as extreme as sending their child to school amidst a pandemic.
He also said that the board wants to have a full reopening for the fall. It is important to the school district to continue to push for this. Cavallaro said this for a multitude of reasons, but the most compelling being children going to school for the first time at the elementary school level. To teach kindergarten from home would not have the same impact as doing it at desks spaced six feet apart.
Both Cavallaro and Miguelina Felix, who is the Communications Director of the Board of Education, touched on the cleanliness of the schools, noting there will be a morning crew and an evening crew to clean the buildings. Felix also says that they have bought a lot of supplies to aid in cleanliness, like hand sanitizer and masks.
“Everything is subject to change,” Cavallaro said.” A lot can happen in 21 days. We get the metrics every week, and I go over them with the health director, and they say, ‘Neil, you can open schools.’”
School officials were unsure of the number of families who will take the at-home option instead of sending their children to buildings. Once that is determined, plans can be refined to meet the needs of both those in the classroom and those at home.