School district copes with COVID-19

FALLS VILLAGE — The All Boards Chairs committee of the Region One Board of Education convened online on Wednesday, March 25.

The committee voted to have Region One Business Manager Sam Herrick work out a solution with All-Star Transportation, the school bus company, to the problem of bus drivers who have been laid off due to the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent closing of school buildings.

Herrick said the company had been in touch to ask if the region would consider paying the bus company as usual, so the drivers could get paid.

Herrick said the payment for the month of March has been made, and noted that some of the drivers —Herrick thought it was seven or eight — are delivering meals to families with children, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the school district.

The logistics of the online meeting were a little fuzzy, but what emerged from the public comment was that many of the laid-off drivers have had difficulty obtaining unemployment benefits.

Herrick said the region had a pre-crisis shortage of drivers anyway, and was inclined to find a way to pay the drivers and support staff.

The committee voted to authorize Herrick, with ABC member Marty Lindenmeyer of Kent, to negotiate with All-Star and then report back to the ABC committee.

Region One Superintendent Pam Vogel reported that the teachers union representatives have asked for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cover the new realities of distance learning and the school calendar. The committee voted to authorize Vogel to move ahead with a MOU that covers the unions at all six Region One elementary schools and Housatonic Valley Regional High School.

Vogel reported that in conversations with other superintendents, she believes that Region One was ahead of other school districts in online instruction.

She noted that administrators and teachers in Region One were meeting and planning 10 days before school buildings closed on March 16.

The initial closure was supposed to run to March 31. In the interim, Gov. Ned Lamont ordered schools to remain closed through April 20 (and possibly beyond).

Vogel posts regular updates on the Region One website (www.region1schools.org).

Editor’s note: The Lakeville Journal is providing content related to the coronavirus outbreak for free as a public service to our readers. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Lakeville Journal, The Millerton News, or TriCornerNews.com or by becoming a contributor to our membership model. Click here for more information.

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