Chatham School Board, Teachers Discuss COVID And Staffing Impacts

CHATHAM, NJ — Dr. Michael LaSusa gave a status update about COVID within the school district, with teachers, Board of Education members and other school staff, speaking about the impact within the schools.

LaSusa said at the most recent Board of Education meeting, with the holidays and cold weather, there has been a rise in COVID cases.

“We have had more cases since Thanksgiving than all of the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving combined,” said LaSusa.

He said the district has no plans to close the schools, with many districts reducing the length of the school day or eliminating lunch periods. He called it “critically important” for kids to remain in school.

“We’re doing the best that we can to manage the positive cases that do come our way,” he said.

Board President Jill Critchley Weber asked if the cases were spread out or in particular buildings within the district, LaSusa replying they’ve been at “all the schools.” Weber expressed her concern about a case increase after the upcoming break.

“I agree, we’ve always said the 'stick in the ground' is as much in-person learning as possible, however we can accomplish that safely,” Weber added.

Teachers Weigh In On Pandemic School Year

Marty Visitacion, a Health and Physical Education teacher at the Milton Avenue School and member of the Chatham Education Association, addressed the Board of Education during the public comment section of the meeting. Visitacion said communication sent to staff and the community about the school year being considered “normal," is "not quite the case."

He said there are sections of classrooms quarantining because of COVID, with teachers delivering virtual and hybrid instruction each day. Masks, contact tracing and social distancing, Visitacion added, are still part of the routine. He said secretaries are “scrambling to get coverage” because of the lack of substitutes. Paraprofessionals and teachers are covering classrooms to keep the day running, with teachers being asked to implement new programs that he described as “constantly changing.”

Visitacion said he believes that the 2021-2022 school year has presented more challenges than the prior year, because of the “push to return to normalcy in a time when things are anything but normal.”

Laura Sivori, a full-time self-contained preschool teacher at Milton Avenue, also spoke, acknowledged the paraprofessionals, particularly in the self-contained classrooms, calling them the “backbone of the program.” A self-contained program adds multiple responsibilities, with COVID piled onto it, she continued.

“In a time when masks and social distancing are in place to keep everyone safe, this can present challenges for our students and therefore, staff,” Sivori said.

The challenges, she said, are something the paraprofessionals have accepted and persevered through. COVID doesn’t stay away, if children need assistance with eating, diapering and hand-over-hand help to complete puzzles or hold a pencil, Sivori added.

One of her concerns has been that some children who started the program in August, may have already spent half of their lives in quarantine, “missing critical time developing the social and emotional skills,” like sharing, turn-taking and managing emotions, among them.

Sivori thanked the School’s Principal, Nicholas Andreazza, Preschool Case Manager Dr. Allison Moore and Dr. Emily Sortino, Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services, with the focus on preschool this year; and asked the Board of Education to remember the paraprofessionals the next time their pay is negotiated, because of all they do.

“They allow for the highest quality of education that every other child in this district receives and deserves,” Sivori said of the paraprofessionals.

Lenore Paulan, Andreazza’s secretary and member of Chatham Education Association, additionally addressed the Board of Education. She described the staff in all of the schools as having “remained committed to providing experiences that go above and beyond expectations not just for our students, but for the community as well,” in spite of the challenges they’ve faced in the 2021-2022 school year. She recapped some events within the district, including the “Pumpkin Walk” and "Tea for Two" giveaway for senior citizens who attended Sense and Sensibility," the district having received grants for those two events, as well as others.

Board Responds To Pandemic Staffing Concerns, COVID

Weber said that none of them one the board think “things are normal.”

“We don’t want you to think that we’re blind or oblivious to the fact that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic,” Weber said.

She stressed that the district is piecing it all together with the exceptional staff within the schools.

The Board of Education and previous ones, she said, have always been appreciative of the staff.

“Please don’t walk out of this room thinking that we all think things are normal,” Weber added, stressing that all of them were wearing face masks.

“That’s not normal,” she continued.

She said the district has been looking for substitute teachers. She asked the audience if anyone they know would like to be a substitute teacher or paraprofessional in the district, to please consider it.

LaSusa said there is a very severe shortage with paraprofessional and substitute staff, with a tight labor market. Many surrounding districts, he said provide health benefits, with paraprofessionals and substitutes part-time in Chatham and not receiving benefits. He said if the rates are bumped up, there could be a migration from the paraprofessional to the substitute staff.

Every single school and level has felt this impact, LaSusa said, with teachers and paraprofessional staff covering “left and right.”

When the COVID case levels rise, then so do the vacancies in the staff, he said, needing time off for their children, for example, if daycares shut down because of COVID.

“It’s a very real issue and one we’re trying to fight our way through as best as we can like last year,” LaSusa said.

The only thing that would cause the buildings to shut down for remote learning, LaSusa said, would be for the inability to staff the buildings and supervise children in the schools, which happened in the previous school year.

“I’m hoping we don’t face that type of crisis again in the next six months, but it’s certainly one of the biggest challenges that we have on our plates right now,” LaSusa continued.

Weber asked LaSusa if he foresaw that the numbers of substitutes could rise once COVID dissipates. She asked about changing the pay structures. She said she knows it’s not in the budget, but asked if there was another way to resolve it, such as a referendum.

He said it would be complicated but something that could be worked through.

Board Member Michelle Clark said it’s not a problem unique to Chatham, but across the country and inquired about COVID relief from the State of New Jersey.

Teachers, she said, are feeling the stress and don’t want to take the time off, though at times they must, calling it a “ripple effect” on staff and students.

LaSusa responded that the state is addressing the teacher and bus driver shortage and not necessarily the issues with paraprofessionals and substitute teachers, though he said the state is working on certain adjustments for substitute teachers.

He suggested ESSER funds as a potential resource for substitute teacher costs, though he said many districts, including Chatham, are “targeting those resources toward mental health-related matters and some of the HVAC type of issues.”

Listen to the entire discussion, including public comments beginning around 58 minutes:

Questions or comments about this story? Have a local news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.