NEW BRITAIN, Conn — A letter sent out Monday announced all students in New Britain will be moving to a remote learning model starting November 30.
Safety and Communications manager Matt Cannata said the New Britain School district received direction from the state of Connecticut on how they should make their decisions in regards to switching learning models due to COVID-19.
"We have received direction from the State of Connecticut to rely on data and not proactively close for a prolonged period of time in anticipation of changes in disease prevalence," said Cannata. "The State has reinforced the importance of school districts making public health data-driven decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic while safeguarding the importance of student access to in-person schooling for our children’s education, social-emotional, and nutritional needs."
According to the state of Connecticut's COVID-19 data tracker, New Britain is one of 145 towns with a red alert status due to a high number of positive cases in their town. Cannata added the district has seen little transmission of the virus inside New Britain schools.
However, the New Britain School district has seen staff shortages which have impacted its ability to teach to students inside the classroom.
The remote learning is expected to go through December 11, 2020.