COLCHESTER, Conn. — The first day of class at Bacon Academy in Colchester will look different than years past. It will also start a little later on September 8.
“The Colchester Board of Education made the determination to move the start of school back one week to the day after Labor Day,” said Jeffrey E. Burt, Colchester’s School Superintendent.
Bacon Academy put out a tweet letting parents and students know about the change.
Superintendent Burt says the delayed start date allows the district to prepare for a smooth reopening in light of lost time due to the recent storm and delayed guidance from the State on a hybrid learning model option. In Colchester, students will split their time between in-classroom learning and at-home learning.
“We had a very long and difficult conversation about that, but ultimately we decided we need some additional time for a few reasons: the first was to prepare more our hybrid plan, school opening. The second was to allow more parents to secure daycare,” he said.\
The decision came around the same time the Connecticut Education Association recommended delaying the start of the school year by two weeks to give teachers adequate time to prepare and school districts more time to get safety protocols in place.
“We know that these need to be in place, and they’re simply not in place in too many districts,” said CEA President Jeff Leake.
Governor Ned Lamont’s office says it has put plans in place that will keep students and staff safe as they head back into the classroom. The Governor doesn’t want Connecticut to lose out on a year of education.
In Colchester, the school district is trying to spend this little extra time to come up with the best solution for the entire school community.
“Now we’re trying to look at what’s going to happen if we do end up with an increase in cases in the district, in the county, etc. so we’re really just trying to be flexible, nimble and innovative as best as possible,” said Burt.
Superintendent Burt also said the district will re-evaluate its plans in October to see where things stand and ultimately try to get all students back in the classroom if it’s safe to do so.