ECRWSS PRSRT STD US Postage
PAID
Permit #15 Williston,VT 05495 POSTAL CUSTOMER
JULY 23, 2020
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
Health dept. clears Shaw’s after water shutdown
School buildings won’t fully re-open in fall District settles on ‘hybrid’ model By Jason Starr Observer staff
Observer photo by Paul Apfelbaum
Shaw’s grocery store remained open last week despite a water main break that shut off running water for five days. An inquiry by the Vermont Department of Health found no operating license violations. Shaw’s spokeswoman Teresa
Edington said water service was lost from last Tuesday through Saturday during repair work on the store’s main water line. Food production was shut down during that time. see SHAW’S page 2
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
Unable to maintain the recommended 6 feet of physical distancing inside school buildings, the Champlain Valley School District is planning to open to only half its student body at a time during the upcoming school year. In an unprecedented schedule created to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic, students will attend school two days per week — with half a school’s student population attending Mondays and Tuesdays, for example, and the other half on Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesdays will be a day for teacher planning and as-needed student support. The district will create a plan to continue teaching online during the three days when a student is
not in school. It also will have a fully remote learning option that families can choose. “We are not really comfortable with the idea of bringing back all of our kids,� Superintendent Elaine Pinckney said during a videoconference meeting of the Champlain Valley School Board on Tuesday. “We are working from imperfect options, and we are choosing the best of those imperfect options.� Students and teachers will be required to wear masks while in school buildings and maintain 6 feet of physical distance. There will also be a requirement that parents or school staff affirm that each student is symptom-free before entering a school building or boarding a school bus. In some cases, that may mean parents taking daily temperatures and filling out a survey online. Sometimes the wellness check will be left to school staff, either aboard a bus or at a school entrance. “We are trying to figure out what
is the best, most efficient way to do this,� Pinckney said. Families with multiple children in the district will have their school schedules aligned, she said. Still, the remote learning days will place a burden on working parents that the district has not yet grappled with. “We know that is a tough one,� Pinckney acknowledged, “and we need to figure it out.� The district is also trying to find a child care option for its teachers. Champlain Valley Union High School is a bit further ahead in nailing down schedule details than the district’s K-8 schools, which are expected to update the board at its Aug. 4 meeting. CVU Principle Adam Bunting said Tuesday that the school is planning to have half the students come in Mondays and Thursdays and the other half Tuesdays and Fridays, with remote see SCHOOL page 2
Williston childcare worker transmits coronavirus to kids A childcare worker transmit- 90 minutes into one of Gov. Phil ted the COVID-19 coronavirus to Scott’s twice-weekly press confera small number of children at a ences about the state’s pandemic childcare center in Williston ear- response. lier this month, Vermont Health Levine declined to identify the Commissioner Mark Levine said center, the number of children inTuesday. But he noted that the fected or the ages of the children, transmission is isolated, saying the citing privacy concerns. center has not registered a posi“The number is not large,� he tive test among staff or children in said of the amount of infections. more than a week. “I can tell you, they are all very Levine spoke about the situation young,� he added, referring to the in response to a question from Ver- age of the children infected. “It CSWD ScrapFoodWaste-10-25x3-H-snap.pdf 1 6/17/20 3:07 PM mont Business Magazine roughly was an adult who was the ill per-
son initially, and then some children subsequently tested positive.� Levine said the situation highlights that, in childcare, school or camp settings, if there is coronavirus transmission it is typically adult to child, rather than child to adult. Levine emphasized that this type of situation has been rare in the child care industry statewide, even as the industry has remained open, at least partially, since the start of the pandemic, first to serve
essential workers, and more recently at fuller capacity. “This is not another occurrence of many. This is a unique occurrence, really, considering how many childcares there are in the state,� he said. “Many parents, children and childcare providers have concerns, just because we are in the COVID era, but things have worked out very well. “But this does illustrate that there will be a case here, there
FOOD SCRAPS
will be a case there,� he continued, “much like we’re talking about schools and colleges, there will be cases in those settings, as well. But as long as they can be isolated cases, scattered cases, don’t occur with great frequency, (they) can be contained very effectively through the public health measures we’ve utilized, that’s what’s important for everyone to understand.� — Jason Starr
LET’S
SCRAP FOOD
WASTE
COUNTER TOP any sealable container
DROPďšşOFF at CSWD center
BACKYARD COMPOSTER OR DIGESTER
PAID PICKďšşUP SERVICE OR HAULER COLLECTION
NEVER TRASH
YOU HAVE OPTIONS AND WE CAN HELP YOU! VISIT CSWD.NET/ScrapFoodWaste