Days after announcing a plan to reopen school full time in the fall, state officials yesterday released this 50-page set of guidelines.

Because experts are continuing to learn more about COVID-19 and the conditions surrounding the pandemic are continually changing, this preliminary guidance will likely
evolve and be amended or supplemented.

Individualized considerations based upon unique circumstances in each school district may also be needed. The state will conduct a survey to find out how many parents want to keep their kids home in the fall for remote learning.

It has been 100 years since educational, public health, and governmental leaders have had
to grapple with the challenges we are facing today, and have been facing for the last several months. When the effects of the pandemic required that schools across Connecticut cancel in-school classes during March, it took moments to realize that education in Connecticut would be forever changed. Connecticut has long been focused on providing all students with equity and excellence in education, and this pandemic has forced us to further focus on the inequalities that still exist within our system and to begin to address them with renewed fidelity.

For the last several months, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) has
been working hand in hand with the Office of the Governor, educational stakeholders, and philanthropic leaders to identify the technological needs of students across our state, and we’ve begun to address the issues of device access and internet connectivity. Eliminating those obstacles will bring us one step closer to leveling the playing field for all of our students in the event that we find ourselves in a similar remote learning situation in the future.