'Everyone Is Pulling Together': Coventry Heads Back To School

COVENTRY, RI — Coventry schools have been back in session for about three weeks, and despite some pain points, it's looking like a pretty normal year, Superintendent Craig Levis said.

Like so many other school districts around Rhode Island and the country, the road back to "normal" has been fairly rocky. Unlike last year, Coventry is back to full-time, in-person learning, bringing back as many aspects of normalcy while working to keep COVID-19 cases at bay.

Shortages

One of the biggest issues faced by school systems has been bus driver shortages, and Coventry is no exception. Although the district started the year fully staffed, the district has had to contend with anywhere from four to seven absences on any given day, without a safety net of substitutes to fall back on.

"We're being as creative as we can be," Levis said. "We're not just sitting here saying there's nothing we can do."

The shortage has meant that some drivers have had to double up on routes or take extra students, leading to disruptions in schedules and delayed drop-off times for some students. Coventry is the largest town in Rhode Island, geographically speaking, making it difficult to combine bus routes, Levis said.

The district is working with both the bus company and the governor's office to find workable solutions, and has seen some improvement in recent days, Levis said. In addition, about 20 to 25 percent more parents and guardians have opted to drive students to school, which, while creating some traffic issues, has also helped take pressure off bus routes.

Inside schools, the district has taken steps to prevent shortages throughout the school year, Levis said. Last year, Coventry schools raised the substitute teacher rate and hired an additional 76 subs. This year, the district added an additional fixed, building-based sub per elementary school, and two in the middle and high schools to provide more consistency for long-term absences.

Vaccines

As of Aug. 25, data from the Department of Education showed that 55 percent of eligible Coventry High School students had gotten at least one vaccine dose, Levis said. Middle school numbers were a little lower, with about 44 percent of eligible students opting to get the shot.

When it comes to teacher and staff, Levis said that although the district doesn't have vaccine data on hand, he "would assume we're similar in that regard" to the state average for teachers, which has been reported to be above 90 percent.

Levis said that he would support a vaccine mandate for school staff, with room for exemptions.

"In my lifetime, we've seen things that are nearly eradicated [due to vaccines] ... it's a part of our life," Levis said, though he was quick to add that "I don't set public policy."

As of now, Coventry has no plans to implement a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for teachers, but if that were the case, the policy would be built around conversations with the teacher's union, legal advisors and other members of the school community.

A sense of normalcy

Although things still look a lot different than years past, Coventry schools are finally getting back to a sense of normalcy, the superintendent said.

"I've never been so proud to be a superintendent," Levis said of the combined community effort to get kids back to school safely. "There are so many opportunities for people to throw in the towel, but we continue to find ways to push forward ... I have the upmost respect and admiration for everyone involved."