News

Superintendent: District Officials ‘Optimistic’ for NCHS Class of ’21 Graduation Ceremony at Dunning with Students and Parents

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District officials said this week that they’re hopeful New Canaan High School’s class of 2021 will be able to have a graduation ceremony at Dunning Field with at least parents in attendance and possibly others. The state issued guidance on end-of-year events and it includes many of the strategies long in place at New Canaan Public Schools, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting Monday night. Those strategies include wearing masks, social distancing, limiting the number of people in attendance, keeping track of who’s there, providing hand sanitizer and prohibiting anyone showing symptoms or who has tested positive for COVID-19 virus from attending, he said. Graduation ceremonies, specifically, are to be held outdoors, Luizzi said during the meeting, held via videoconference. Luizzi said he met with NCHS Principal Bill Egan and Athletic Director Jay Egan to figure out “how can we safely hold a graduation for our families that at least gets the students and their parents in and maybe does a little bit more.”

“We’ve got to work within the limitations of the facility, but we do have the great fortune of having Dunning to use for graduation.

News

‘That’s the Reality of the World We Are In’: Superintendent Updates Board of Ed As K-12 Nears Full In-Person Learning

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Transitioning all New Canaan Public Schools students back into full in-person learning from 50% to 75% and, this week, 100%, has been helpful in getting students, families and staff accustomed to strategies designed to mitigate transmission of COVID-19 virus, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said Monday night. So far this week, officials have received very good reports on the return of New Canaan High School seniors to 100% in-person learning “and we anticipate the same for our juniors and then our ninth- and tenth-graders on Wednesday,” according to Luizzi. 

“It does mean when there are positive cases there are likely to be more quarantines, because of the balance between running at full capacity and maintaining that social distance of six feet, people understand that,” he said during a regular meeting of the Board of Education, held via videoconference. 

“When I sent out the announcements about bringing back the seniors and phasing everybody back in, that same day we had a positive case at Saxe and a positive case at one of our elementaries, and we had to quarantine a classroom at the elementary and a team at Saxe for a period of time. That’s the reality of the world we are in. So we have the great news about bringing those kids back. But we also just have to be grounded in the reality that when a positive case arises, we are still using those mitigation strategies.”

The comments came during Luizzi’s regular update on COVID-19 and the schools, whose buildings had been closed almost exactly one year earlier as the pandemic set in.

Board of Education

Board of Education: Cutting $3.1MM Is Not Fully Funding Our School Budget 

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The New Canaan Board of Education (BOE) is an elected body whose mission, under state statute, is to govern the town’s public schools, including oversight and spending of town, state, and federal government-allocated funds. We proudly serve as representatives and advocates for the New Canaan community and prioritize the success of the district and its students. 

The Board of Finance cut the requested BOE budget by $3.1 million. In developing its budget, the BOE again fulfilled its promise to the community by providing a detailed annual forecast of the funding needed to continue providing high quality programming for New Canaan’s students. The BOE budgets for its anticipated needs to run the schools and meet its obligations to the community. The Board of Finance has attempted to rationalize this cut as a deferral of funding.

Board of Education

Superintendent: COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics for Staff and Faculty To Be Held Over Next Two-and-a-Half Weeks

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All New Canaan Public Schools staff and faculty seeking COVID-19 vaccinations will have a chance to get their shots within the next two-and-a-half weeks or so, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said Monday night. 

Under the continued vaccine rollout that Gov. Ned Lamont announced last week, school staff and teachers are among those eligible to get vaccinated starting in March. 

Luizzi said he connected immediately with Health Director Jenn Eielson to put together a thorough, fair, thoughtful and non-disruptive system for all full-time and part-time district staff members. “This is a milestone in this whole experience, for all of us,” Luizzi told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting, held via videoconference. “And we are really excited to get going.”

He added, “The vaccinations have been foremost on our minds, and that’s a big turning point here with COVID and everything else that we’ve been experiencing.”

The comments came during Luizzi’s general update on COVID-19. 

During an initial clinic at Lapham Community Center that will be held Wednesday, 350 first doses will be administered to all full- and part-time staff members aged approximately 46-and-older, Luizzi said. “And we’re still working and refining that list, so in one week we are able to get to a significant portion of our staff,” he said. “The system that we have in place looks like it might take two-and-a-half weeks or so for everybody who wants a vaccination to get one.”

First-dose clinics will be held on Wednesday afternoons when school is not in session, Luizzi said, and second doses will be offered Fridays so that people can rest through possible side effects.

Board of Education

COVID-19: State Reports Three More New Canaan Deaths

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State officials in recent days reported the deaths of three more New Canaanites with coronavirus disease, new data show, and the town is seeing a sharp rise in confirmed COVID-19 virus cases. The town’s cumulative total of 845 cases reported Monday is up 27 from Friday’s report by the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The DPH also is reporting  39 deaths for New Canaan in its most recent COVID-19 data tracker, up from 36 one week ago. Municipal officials said last week that most new cases are young adults and middle-aged parents infected through small gatherings over the holidays. A recent rise in cases among New Canaan High School students prompted district officials this week to pull back for now on the number of students attending in-person at the Farm Road school at one time.