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03/17/2020 12:00 AMMadison schools have suspend all classes indefinitely beginning March 16 in response to concerns about the coronavirus, Superintendent of Schools Tom Scarice announced at a Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on March 13.
News went out to parents and community members shortly after in a letter that detailed what this indefinite closing will look like. The schools will reevaluate the closing in two weeks, according to the letter.
Scarice said the decision was made after speaking to the state’s epidemiologist, and then through communication with “eight or nine” other regional superintendents the evening of March 12, when the decision was made to close.
“We all locked arms, because individual silos closing will do minimal, but, however, working in unison” we can help limit the spread of the disease, he said. “We’re aware that New York has a wide spread of the virus, and Fairfield County, and to get ahead of it in this region...Madison public schools will be closing.”
Any teaching or “supplemental learning” during the closing will be optional, Scarice said at the meeting. Governor Ned Lamont recently waived requirements that schools reach 180 days of school for the year, meaning effectively that school will end on June 30, according to Scarice.
Though the schools can use April vacation days to mitigate the loss of days due to the closing, Scarice said he “highly suspect[s]” that the school will not be able to bring kids in to school during those days, as that time period falls into the “community mitigation efforts” against the virus.
Scarice described the closing in two phases as far as supplemental learning, beginning with a “prevent the slide” approach for the first two to three weeks, with activities and curriculum-related instruction. Distance learning guidance from state is changing almost daily, he told The Source, noting that at this point the district is focused on interim learning opportunities for all student, with many opportunities posted on the district website www.madison.k12.ct.us.
If the schools have to be closed for a longer time, Scarice said learning will be more focused on curriculum, but that there is no way for teachers to simulate a classroom experience, or have the days count as school days based on state, federal, and special education requirements.
“Doing this on the fly in March—we may have the technology,” he said, though technology is just part of the picture. “[F]olks...at the university level, doing distance learning—they’ve been doing it for a decade. We’re talking 18 to 23 year olds. I don’t see five, six, seven year-olds getting a ton out of distance learning at home. So we’re looking at any type of distance learning as being at Brown School and up.”
Madison Public Health Director Trent Joseph said he has recommended that all day cares and pre-schools in Madison follow the example of the district. Scarice said he had left a message for Jon Fixx, head of The Country School, and spoken to an administrator at Our Lady of Mercy Preparatory Academy on March 13.
Messages left by The Source at those two schools had not been returned at press time.
In response to a question at the meeting, Board of Education Chair Katie Stein said there had been some discussion about whether to call the closing “indefinite,” for fear it would cause fear in the community.
Stein said other schools in the region felt it was important to call the closing indefinite, but said that the closing would be reevaluated every two weeks.
At press time, the district was working on a plan for free/reduced lunch. Check Zip06.com/COVID-19 for updates.