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Date: 11/8/2021
GRANBY – The Granby School Committee met to continue their discussion on COVID-19 testing, mask mandates and an upcoming vaccine clinic on Nov. 2.
Superintendent Stephen Sullivan gave an update on the district’s pooled testing program, which has been running for a total of four weeks. He said that they now have a Program Coordinator and Certified Nursing Assistant in place to support the testing.
Sullivan said that this will help Nurse Lead Nancy Jenks, who has been running the program since it started.
“I know Nancy is working to gradually release some of that, which was the plan from the get-go. We felt it was important to get it up and running, so we were able to do it on a smaller scale and we hope to grow that over the next few weeks as they acquaint themselves with our systems, school and students and staff,” he said.
Sullivan said the testing program has been running smoothly and reminded the public that vaccinated students are not required to participate in testing.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has extended their mask mandate in schools through Jan. 15,2022. Sullivan said that about 90 percent of their staff is currently vaccinated. However, their students are now at the 80 percent needed to discuss removing masks.
He said that students ages 12 through 15 are reporting a 55 percent vaccination rate and ages 16 through 19 are reporting 63 percent.
“We’re still a ways off in the student categories,” he said.
Currently, Granby still has a town-wide mask mandate put in place by the Board of Health. Sullivan emphasized that, while this is in effect, schools would not be able to stop masking even if they did reach an 80 percent vaccination rate.
In order to help with increasing vaccination rates across the community, Sullivan said the district will be offering another vaccination clinic. The clinic will take place on Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Pfzier vaccine will be offered to anyone age 5 and up. Sullivan said more information will be sent out to families soon.
“Excited to have that opportunity and encouraging people to take advantage,” he said.
To end his meeting update, Sullivan took a moment to emphasize how hard teachers and staff are working this year.
“I know how stressful teachers’ jobs and educators’ jobs are right now. The gaps in student learning are as big as they’ve ever been. We’re seeing challenges, I would say especially at the elementary level, that we maybe haven’t seen before,” he said.
He noted that they are figuring out ways to support staff, teachers and students during this time.
“Unfortunately I don’t think it’s one answer that’s going to fix it. It’s not the flick of a switch. It’ll take creative thinking and, I think, a collaborative approach between admin, teachers, students and the community to address some of those concerns,” said Sullivan.
The School Committee also reported that they have received the $24,168 from the Rural School Aid. They will now come up with a plan on how to spend this funding.
Granby schools was also recently awarded the Emergency Connectivity Fund Grant. They were given just over $98,000 which will be used to purchase one-to-one devices at East Meadow. These devices will be purchased in the spring.
Those interested in watching the School Committee Meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the Granby Community Media & Access YouTube.