TRSU looks to align school schedules for both its districts 'Test to Stay' keeps students in school instead of quarantine

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC

During her monthly report to the Two Rivers Supervisory Union board, Superintendent Lauren Fierman spoke of “aligning the schedules” of the SU’s five schools.

Currently, Cavendish Town Elementary School has an early release every Tuesday, with the remainder of the day being used by the faculty for professional development. The other schools in the Green Mountain  and Ludlow-Mt. Holly districts do not have an early release and do professional development during in-service days, in which the children are off. Cavendish Elementary also takes advantage of those days.

Fierman said she would like to look at the question of a single schedule from the point of view of the supervisory union rather than the individual schools. She also said there is value of having “embedded professional development time” in the schedule and noted that some other school systems do have either an early release or a late start for this purpose. The difference, Fierman said, is that those are usually once a month rather than every week.

Calling it disruptive, TRSU board member and chair of the GM board Joe Fromberger also said the early release “a leftover” from the past.

Fierman said she expects to circulate surveys and hold information meetings as part of the decision making process.

Test to Stay program keeps hundreds in TRSU schools

Fierman told the board that she had sent 18 letters to parents alerting them to Covid contacts in the five TRSU schools in four weeks since Nov. 8, when the state began the Test to Stay program. During that time, according to Fierman, the program has allowed hundreds of students to stay in their TRSU schools rather than quarantining.

The program allows unvaccinated students who have been in contact with a Covid positive person to take an antigen test before school. If the test is negative and the student has no symptoms, the student can go to class and in-school extra curricular activities. Students in the program must be tested for seven days since their last contact with a Covid case.