ANSONIA — In-person learning at Ansonia’s Prendergast School will stop for two weeks due to the number of staff members who must stay home after a COVID-19 exposure.
In addition, city government Friday canceled a Halloween event scheduled for Oct. 30 and a drive-in movie screening scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 31. The events were canceled because Ansonia was declared a COVID-19 “hot spot” Thursday due to positivity rates per capita over two weeks.
In a Friday Facebook post, Ansonia’s government asked families to stay home on Halloween.
“Residents are advised to exercise extreme caution, and it is recommended that families stay home instead of trick or treating on Halloween,” the post read.
Prendergast School
The school building is not being shut because of an increase in positive tests. As of Friday afternoon, only two people have tested positive (though there are also people awaiting test results).
But a large number of staffers must stay home and quarantine after coming into contact with a person who had tested positive. That was discovered through contact tracing. Those staffers must stay home for a full two weeks, school officials said, citing CDC guidelines.
Given the number of staffers impacted by the mandatory quarantine, closing the school building makes the most sense in terms of safety and practicality, officials said.
Prendergast students will go online starting Monday.
“Prendergast School will be on full remote learning for both students and staff beginning on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020 and in-person hybrid learning will return on Nov. 16, 2020,” Superintendent Joseph DiBacco wrote in a letter to parents Friday, Oct. 30.
The superintendent’s letter is embedded below. The story continues after the letter.
Prendergast School Letter 10.30.20 by The Valley Indy on Scribd
On Oct. 28, the school district informed the community that a person connected to Prendergast had tested positive for COVID-19. That person was last inside the school building Oct. 26.
“Any staff or students that came into contact with a positive individual are considered primary contacts by CDC guidelines,” the superintendent wrote. “The protocols established state that individuals need to quarantine for 14 days.”
On Thursday the state issued an updated COVID-19 map showing Ansonia had entered the “red zone” in terms of the average daily rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. A rate of 15 or higher gets put in the red zone. Ansonia’s rate was 19.5. Click here for a previous story.
City officials said there is no one event or incident, such as a large party, causing a COVID-19 uptick locally. It’s considered “community spread,” city officials said.
In an interview Friday, DiBacco stressed the school district is relying on medical experts and the Naugatuck Valley Health District to make decisions.
The announcement about Prendergast comes one day after the state announced a daily COVID-19 positivity rate of 6.1 percent. That rate was under 1 percent in the summer months.
The daily positivity rate dipped to 2.5 percent statewide Friday. The weekly average now stands at 3 percent. Connecticut is still better off than other parts of the U.S., but public health officials noted hospitalizations and deaths are trending upward.
DiBacco urged Ansonia families to follow the guidelines from the CDC and the health department, including those that recommend not going door-to-door on Halloween.
The superintendent is worried that Ansonia is especially vulnerable to a COVID-19 resurgence due to population density levels, and the fact there are so many multi-generational families living together. He pointed out that minority groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, a fact that is a cause for further concern within the school district.
He urged Ansonia to remain vigilant.
“I worry about community spread more than anything,” the superintendent said.
City Cancels Govt-Sponsored Events
The designation of Ansonia as a COVID-19 “hot spot” and recommendations to skip traditional Halloween activities were met with derision by people posting on The Valley Indy Facebook page, where the reaction to pandemic data is often filtered through partisan lenses.
“I know we have idiots living in this State, what the heck do we need to do to turn this State Red?” Valerie D’Anna asked in a thread Thursday.
Others questioned whether the data was accurate. Others asked why people could go grocery shopping but were being advised not to go trick or treating. Others asked for the specific mathematical formula the state health department used to arrive at Thursday’s rate. Others echoed misinformation that has been circulating since the start of the pandemic — it’s no worse than the flu, all deaths are considered COVID.
But Ansonia’s designation as a “hotspot” Thursday caused city government to cancel its Halloween events on Friday. The events — a drive-thru “Nightmare Alley” outside Ansonia City Hall Friday night and a Halloween outdoor screening of “Hocus Pocus” — were part of an effort to give families something to do together safely during the pandemic.
Responding to a Valley Indy question, John Marini, the city’s corporation counsel, acknowledged the COVID-19 statistics being thrown around can be hard to decipher.
“I agree with you. It’s hard to know what to truly make of it, but we’re dealing with health and safety and these are unprecedented times. We’re going to err on the side of caution. Do we know everything there is to know about these statistics? No. But we do know that relatively speaking, our test results are coming in higher than surrounding areas,” Marini said. “On that basis, we think it is warranted to advise increased vigilance. Basically, it’s cost-benefit. If you don’t have to take the risk, don’t take the risk.”
The City of Ansonia is not officially “canceling” Halloween, but the city is recommending people avoid large gatherings and to not go door-to-door.
In addition to canceling the city-sponsored Halloween events, Marini said the Cassetti administration canceled anything happening on athletic fields in the city, including scheduled football and soccer games.
No games will be played on the fields until further notice.
Extra cleaning and custodians will be out at Ansonia’s polling places on Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 3). Masks are strongly recommended when going to the polls. In an effort to have less people in Ansonia City Hall on Election Day, many workers will be asked to work from home, Marini said.
