Fairfield schools return to hybrid

After spending a month with no students in the building, the Fairfield Community School District will return to its hybrid model on Monday, Dec. 14.

Under the hybrid model, half the students are in a school building while the other half take classes online. The two halves of the student body are named 'Trojan” and 'Power.” This week, the 'Power” group will go to school on the half day Wednesday, plus Thursday and Friday, while the 'Trojan” group will go to class on Monday and Tuesday.

Students can sign up for the grab and go meals on the district's website. Power students, virtual and non-school age students will pick up grab and go meals on Monday evening at the Middle School from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Trojan students' meals will go home with them on Tuesday.

The district started the year in the hybrid model, and gradually shifted toward a fully in-person model in October, but once COVID-19 cases started climbing, the district went into a fully online mode on Nov. 16.

Recent COVID cases

The district is able to return to some in-person instruction thanks to a decline in COVID-related absences. The number of students and staff who either tested positive for COVID or who had to be in isolation or quarantine remained above 120 for more than a week from Nov. 12-22, but fell to just half of that on Nov. 24 and has continued to mostly fall since then, with the most recent figures showing 38 people were absent due to COVID on Dec. 11.

The percent of students absent due to illness has been on a downward trend since Dec. 1, when 5 percent of the student body was sick, including 14 percent at Washington Elementary School. That number fell below 2 percent district-wide on Dec. 9 and remained there the rest of the week.