Schools open Aug. 26 full-time, in-person, with masks

Heads up for new bus routes, some new starting and dismissal times

August 18, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

UPDATE: This story was updated on Aug. 19 to add links to information about Monday night’s online back to school Q&A session with school district leaders and two memos from Superintendent Brigid Nease.

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School starts in the Harwood Unified Union School District Aug. 26 and the district intends to open full-time in person with all students and staff wearing masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. 

Last year’s hybrid learning model will no longer be in place with the district aiming for all activities and programs to move forward while still employing strategies to keep the coronavirus at bay. 

In a memo over the weekend to district families, Superintendent Brigid Nease outlined the general plan for the start of the school year. “We had hoped that opening would nearly resemble pre-COVID day models, but we find ourselves developing implementation plans due to COVID once again,” she said. 

Nease said the Harwood district so far will rely on everyone wearing masks in schools “until further notice.” 

State guidance absent a state of emergency declaration amounts to advisory recommendations going into the new school year. A two-page memo from state Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine and Education Secretary Dan French suggests that schools require masks for all students and staff for the first 10 days. After that, the state suggests dropping masking for those age 12 and over if 80% of that group within a school is vaccinated. Children under age 12 not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine will be required to wear masks until further notice. 

School officials across the state are looking to the limited guidance as they sort out their approaches which likely will vary from one district to another. In Harwood’s case, the call will largely be made by administrators. The school board has been on a summer recess, so there have not been any public meetings yet where the topic has been discussed. The board has its first regular meeting since June on Aug. 24. The board scheduled it for Tuesday rather than the usual Wednesday so as not to meet the night before school begins.

In anticipation of questions from the public, the school district announced on Thursday that the school board will host a special online Q&A session with Nease and other school leaders Monday evening, 6:30-8 p.m., via Zoom. The meeting will be recorded and posted to the district’s YouTube site.

So far, the plan for Harwood Union schools does not call for ending mask-wearing at any specific time. Administrators met this week to work out additional details shared with families Thursday evening, Aug. 19. She cited guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics that supports wearing masks indoors in areas where COVID-19 spread is high or substantial in the community. Washington County is considered a region of high spread presently and Waterbury has recently experienced a COVID-19 outbreak among children at the summer recreation day camp. As of Tuesday, 31 cases were identified in the outbreak, most of which were children under age 12 and none had been hospitalized, according to state health officials.  

Goals for this year in school will include “keeping all staff and students as safe as possible physically, emotionally, and socially” as well as keep all seven schools open five days per week for in-person learning and keeping teachers in the classroom, Nease said. The district does not plan any remote learning options in addition to in-person instruction. 

“The success of our goals depends on maintaining robust learning environments all year where athletics, drama, and all co-curricular activities are not canceled. They depend on not closing classrooms, teams, or schools,” she wrote. “We know students and staff may contract the virus. Like last year, we stopped the spread within our schools then and we can do it again, but it will take everyone.”

Familiar strategies from last school year will be in effect, Nease said, such as incorporating outdoor instruction time, frequent hand-washing, and disinfecting school settings. 

Vaccinations also will play a key role. “All staff will be required to be vaccinated unless they provide a medical exemption, or be tested weekly,” she said, noting that the Vermont NEA teachers union supports that approach. Routine volunteer testing for staff and students will also be available, state officials said this week. And with the COVID-19 vaccine available for anyone age 12 and older, families are encouraged to get students vaccinated as well. 

A new policy from last year will allow volunteers and parents in school buildings on a limited basis, with permission from principals as long as individuals are masked and vaccinated, Nease included in her memo. 

New start/dismissal times & bus routes

Another development for students and families to take note of: substantial changes to the school day schedule and bus routes throughout the district. Routes have been revised to reduce wait times for students arriving and departing schools, reduce overall time on buses for students, and separate elementary students from middle and high school students on buses. All students also will be required to wear masks on school buses. Bus routes and schedules are online at huusd.org/bus-routes.

The school schedules at Harwood Union High School and Crossett Brook Middle School also have been shifted for the district’s oldest students. Schools now will open at 8:30 a.m. and have staggered dismissals between 3:20 and 3:37 p.m.