“Under the current constraints – with everyone in the building and cohorts, we can’t do it. We’re at the 11th hour now. School starts in two days. It’s a nonstarter. If you give us a timeline and set of constraints, by Columbus day, we could probably make something happen that looks like the high school schedule.”
– Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones“I don’t go down easy from a challenge,” she said. “I mean, sincerely, I need to understand if the board is willing to give on social distancing, cohorting and hybrid.”
“I’m unlikely to approve hybriding because it has dramatic ramifications to the rest of the system,” Mr. Sherr said.
BOE chair Peter Bernstein agreed. “If you’re asking would we want to move to hybrid to fit this in, I say no. I do want the music program to end up back in. I’m not interested in losing cohorting, social distancing.”
“I find it fascinating tonight there is nobody on the call from the music department. It’s amazing to me,” Mr. Sherr said.
Karen Kowalski asked principal Beinstein what he would need to bring back band, orchestra and chorus.
Beinstein it would take a lot more staffing, and more class space.
“I think if we’re going to cohort we’ll need three teachers per building to manage general music so our current teachers can go back to their content areas – and it would be a pull-out model. And find rooms that have been repurposed for other functions. That’s three rooms I don’t have. It would require nine teachers.”
Gordon Beinstein, Western Middle School principal
Mr. Sherr said he would have liked the board to have been asked for additional staffing before the administration went ahead and removed the music electives.
“Has anybody asked, ‘Hey board, will you give me the money to go get 9 more teachers?” he said. “Or giving stipends (to music teachers) to teach more and we’ll pay you more.”
Mark D’Amico, director of curriculum for K-8, said the elementary school instrumental teachers typically split their time between buildings, which they didn’t want to do, given Covid. Instead, he said the instrumental teachers would instead back up the general music teachers via livestream.
Mr. Sherr said having extra staff live streaming in to back up music teachers was difficult to reconcile with the need for additional staffing to return band, chorus and orchestra in middle school.
“In one place we don’t have enough and in another place we’re doubled up,” Sherr said. “This curriculum is already set. The superintendent has an obligation to teach it and deliver it.”
“And by the way, generalized music theory means is, ‘Let me teach you how to read sheet music,'” Sherr said. “I don’t think that is acceptable.”
“You need to deliver the curriculum. Until the board changes the curriculum it’s necessary for you to deliver it,” Sherr said. “And I’d like our music educators participating with the middle school administrators.”
“I’m one of the eight board members who says make it happen,” Meghan Olsson said. “The community has spoken.”
“Band, chorus and orchestra must be put back into the curriculum and into the schedule and we have to figure out how to provide assistance,” Ms Kowalski said. “We should at least hear some out of the box thinking from the music dept on the 17th. Let’s start the dialogue sooner rather than later. The key stakeholders are absent tonight. The key stakeholders are the music teachers.”
“We’re trying our best to open on Sept 9. Let’s see what happens,” said Kathleen Stowe. “Every day brings new data. These three principals, this administration and board members have given up their entire summer. No one took vacation, and to imply otherwise is truly disturbing. Let’s get that going, start school Wednesday, and let’s find out how we can get the music program back in a safe way and as reasonable a time as possible.”
The board talked about voting on a sense of the meeting resolution, but in the end simply asked asked Dr. Jones to return at the Sept 17 meeting with creative ideas based on music teacher input.
On WGCH 1490 am Friday morning Peter Bernstein reflected on the meeting. He pointed out that Connecticut’s numbers are favorable, with only 100 cases across the state and one death the previous week.
“Compared to where the rest of the country is, Connecticut is in a unique spot. We’ll keep an eye on it,” he said, noting that the numbers could change at any time.
He said three teachers had tested positive for Covid-19, but that was prior to school starting.
“Will everything be perfect?” he asked. “No, probably not. We just need to be realistic. We’ll hopefully be nimble enough to deal with things as they happen.”
See also:
Despite Staffing Crunch, Greenwich Schools to Reopen on Time; Covid Testing Possible
Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich to Open Daytime High School Remote Learning Center
Greenwich Schools: 82%+ Children to Start the Year in Person
Jones on School Reopening: A serious approach to student social-emotional needs
State Teachers Union Calls For Delayed School Opening Two Weeks