At superintendent’s recommendation, return to school for New Kent second and third graders delayed

Second and third grade students who attend elementary schools in New Kent County will have to wait until after the new year if they want to reenter the buildings.

New Kent Superintendent of Schools Brian Nichols recommended delaying the return of Cohort Three (second and third graders) until Jan. 11 during Monday night’s regular school board meeting.

Nichols commented that with much of the state returning into critical areas due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many schools reverting back to an all-virtual environment, he wanted to slow the transition process down.

“I don’t want to take a step back,” the superintendent commented. “I rather have a delay than to revert back. I want to see the impact of how the Thanksgiving holiday and the cases may impact us.”

Currently, kindergartners and first graders at George Watkins Elementary and New Kent Elementary have been back in school for the last two weeks. Nichols provided an update of possible cases or encounters by both staff and students who may have been exposed to the virus. While not many have been affected by the virus in the school system, it was the quarantine part that is frustrating the return process.

“When you look at our numbers, they can be misleading,” Nichols said. “If they are connected to the school in some way or form, it will have an effect on our numbers.

“It could have been someone in a sports activity or someone who may have had contact outside the school, they count towards our contact tracing,” he added. “It may not be all inclusive.

“It’s the quarantine that is most disruptive,” the superintendent continued. “We do screening, and our staff is doing a good job. But we need to be a little more diligent.”

Nichols added that for every three students that may have had the virus or been in contact with an individual with COVID-19, it quarantines about eight people. So far since Nov. 23, 24 students have been in quarantine. Two staff members were also linked to possible exposure, resulting in the quarantine of 17 individuals.

The superintendent provided results from surveys distributed to parents of second and third graders to gauge their receptiveness to return to physical buildings. At George Watkins Elementary, 81 of 106 responses garnered for second grade would return to buildings, while 80 of 121 responses for third grade also favored an in-person return. For New Kent Elementary, 57 of 86 replies from parents of second graders said they would return to in-person learning, while 64 out of 100 parents of third graders also leaned towards an in-person return.

“I honestly thought we’d see more elect for virtual,” Nichols commented. “But that is not the case, especially when we get to grades four and five.”

The results of the survey means that under adequate circumstances, George Watkins second and third grade classes would have 16 students apiece with one teacher in each of them. Virtual students would have one teacher for grade level two and three. At New Kent Elementary, there would be three classes of 19 students at the second grade level, and four classes of 16 students at the third grade level. There would be two virtual teachers for online students at both the second and third grade level.

“This definitely has not been easy,” Nichols explained to school board members. “Even as an example, we had to change the drop off at George Watkins Elementary due to the number of kindergartners and first graders being transported by their parents.”

From there, Nichols proposed delaying second and third graders in-person return to Jan. 11. That return was originally planned for Dec. 14. Grades four and five, who were slated to return on Jan. 11, do not have a current return date. Meanwhile, a survey is being sent out to parents of grades six to twelve to begin the process of bringing back upper-level students.

After digesting as much information as possible, District 2 representative Kristen Swynford commented about the logistics and timetable of returns.

“It’s just frustrating to delay,” she said. “It really comes down to a space issue in the schools.”

Nichols interjected that bringing back fourth and fifth graders will be even tougher.

“The space issue will raise it’s head more, especially when we hit the fourth grade,” he said, commenting on feedback from parent surveys that weren’t revealed to the public. “It’s something that we are going to continue to work on and revisit.”

New Kent’s School Board will continue to monitor the return-to-learn plan and will reevaluate the decision at the Dec. 14 work session.