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Date: 9/27/2021
GRANBY – The Granby School Committee met to give an update on the school year, mask mandates and COVID-19 testing on Sept. 21.
To start the meeting, Kelley Ingraham received acknowledgement of professional teaching status. This is for a teacher who has been in the district for three full years and is rated at least proficient on their evaluation, which qualifies them as eligible for professional status.
Ingraham teaches Social Studies at Granby Junior-Senior High School and Superintendent Stephen Sullivan noted that he “could not be happier to have her on our staff.”
After her recognition, Ingraham thanked the district.
“I just want to say thank you for the flowers and for the recognition. I think it probably means a lot more to me than any of you really realize. Like they said, I grew up in Granby. I think a lot of people look at Granby and see it’s a small district and a small community and I look at Granby and I see home,” she said.
Cheryl Denette, representative of the Granby Educators Association, then offered an update on the energy in schools since returning. She said that everyone seems happy to be back and learning in-person again.
“The energy is great. Students and teachers and staff alike are very happy to be back in our buildings. It’s like real teaching and learning again,” said Denette.
With the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education’s (DESE) mask mandate set to expire on Oct. 1, Sullivan noted that they haven’t received much guidance or word on if it will be extended.
“I know other superintendents and school committees are wondering. The commissioner has said that they’re working on it, but still no guidance,” said Sullivan.
However, School Committee Chair Jennifer Bartosz also noted that the district is still under the mask mandate from the Granby Board of Health even if DESE lifts their restrictions.
“It will depend on what follows from the Granby Board of Health because we follow the most restrictive,” said Bartosz.
The meeting then spoke on the testing program they will have in place within schools. Granby Public Schools will be participating in routine safety checks/pool testing and test and stay. They will not currently be offering symptomatic testing, but Sullivan said it could be a possibility in the future.
According to Sullivan, getting the testing programs up and running has been frustrating. They are still awaiting testing supplies and looking for more staff to run the testing. He said the schools will be trying to get it up and running this week, but they are not fully confident that it will happen.
“As of right now, as of today, we have 109 students signed up for testing and 15 staff… So still some kinks to work out. We want to get it started as much as anybody, but every time we take a step forward we meet a new obstacle unfortunately,” said Sullivan.
Sullivan said the district is also working to figure out if flu shots will be mandatory for students and staff this year. According to District Nurse Leader Nancy Jenks, there have not been any official announcements so far.
“Trying to get clarification, but we have nothing in writing indicating that that’s a requirement for this year,” she said.
The School Committee noted that they will be keeping masks and COVID-19 testing on upcoming agendas for the foreseeable future. This will be so they can continue to give updates and keep the community informed.
Those interested in viewing the School Committee Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the Granby Community Access & Media, Inc. YouTube page.