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.

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Board of Ed Re-Elects Katrina Parkhill as Chair by 9-0 Vote

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The Board of Education on Monday unanimously re-elected Katrina Parkhill as its chair. The school board also voted 9-0 to re-elect Brendan Hayes as vice chair and Julie Mackle Reeves as secretary. In nominating Parkhill to a second term, Hayes noted that “it’s been quite a year, to say the least.”

“In a typical year the board chair has a ton of responsibilities,” Hayes said during the meeting, which had members attend in person in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School as well as remotely. “Many hours spent with the administration, the Board and various committees to work through things on behalf of the Board and really be the leader of the Board. Really what was that means is a ton of hours.

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District Enrollment Projected To Decrease by 81 Students Next Year

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Enrollment in New Canaan Public Schools is projected to decrease by 81 students next year, according to data released this week. The projected decline for the 2021-22 school year—from 4,176 to 4,095 students in kindergarten through twelfth grade—reflects decreases at all levels, according to Darlene Pianka, the district’s human resources director. The elementary schools are projected to see 34 fewer students overall next academic year, Pianka told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting Monday. Citing projects from Marlborough, Mass.-based New England School Development Council or ‘NESDEC,’ she said Saxe Middle School is expected to decline by 15 students and New Canaan High School by 32. “Generally speaking, the trend that is indicated by our demographers is that we are in a period of stable but slightly decreasing enrollment in the middle and the elementary schools,” Pianka said during the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS as well as via videoconference. 

In a memo sent to the Board of Ed prior to her presentation, Pianka said, “If we look at projections a few years out we might describe our enrollment as on a slow steady decrease from 4,176 students this year, decreasing to 4,101 students in the 2022-23 school year, a projected decrease of 75 net students, followed by future decreases in enrollment.”

Current enrollment stands at 4,234 students including pre-K students and those placed out-of-district—up 10 from last year’s total, Pianka said.

Board of Education

Superintendent: Ice Hockey, Basketball To Be Limited to Small-Group Conditioning, Non-Contact Drills Indoors

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The superintendent of schools said Tuesday that New Canaan will continue following state public health guidance as winter sports such as basketball and ice hockey near, and only small-group conditioning and non-contact drills are recommended indoors. The Connecticut Department of Public Health has said that “high-risk sports” that also include wrestling, lacrosse, competitive cheer and dance should not be played beyond those activities, Dr. Bryan Luizzi said during a special meeting of the Board of Education. “It also recommends that indoor moderate-risk sports should only be played if they could be considered low-risk with mitigation strategies,” Luizzi said during the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School and viewable on the district’s YouTube channel. An example of such a strategy is volleyball, where the wearing of masks moves it from high- to moderate-risk, under DPH findings. “Indoor moderate risk sports such as basketball and hockey that don’t have similar mitigation strategies available, like the masks, are in that case DPH recommends only small-group conditioning and non-contact indoors,” he said.

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NCHS, Area Schools Plan Fall 7-on-7 Football League

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New Canaan High School’s athletic director is working with counterparts through the FCIAC to develop a 7-on-7 football league that’s in line with state health recommendations, the superintendent of schools said Monday night. The non-contact intramural league could include “linemen’s challenge type activities and even linemen 7-on-7 kinds of things,” Dr. Bryan Luizzi told members of the Board of Education during their regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at NCHS and broadcast on YouTube. “That is aligned with DPH recommendations, because the 7-on-7 that is non-contact brings it from a ‘high risk’ activity to a ‘moderate risk’ activity,” he said. “Which is the same as some of the other sports we are playing now, with the mitigation strategies—like volleyball with the masks, for instance. So the league would use our district coaches, have teams of approximately 15 players and they would play against each other in the beginning, and even against other schools.