Schools Superintendent Alan Addley Goes Into Quarantine After Spouse Tests Positive

Superintendent Says Budget Cuts Would ‘Significantly Affect’ Education, Updates Parents on District News

Parents Tell School Board: Retest Hurts Sophomores, Harsher Penalties Needed for Those Guilty of Cheating

Alan Addley 2020

By DARIENITE.COM | November 18, 2020

Education

By David Gurliacci | June 4, 2020

Education

By David Gurliacci | February 5, 2020

Alan Addley Superintendent Darien Public Schools

Darien Schools Superintendent Alan Addley announced to parents on Tuesday night that he is going into quarantine after his spouse tested positive for COVID-19, although he tested negative. “Upon leaving work on Monday, I was tested for COVID-19,” Addley said in the announcement, emailed Wednesday night. “My PCR test was negative and I immediately started my 14-day period of quarantine,” he continued. “I am feeling well and following the directions from the CDC, District protocols and my physician.” Addley said the quarantine period will end on Tuesday, Dec.

Schools Superintendent Alan Addley, in a message to parents updating them on various developments in the district, said the budget cuts he’s been forced to recommend to the Board of Education would “significantly affect” the education of Darien students. Darienite.com has published the full message below and numbered the sections in Addley’s message to make it quicker for readers to find out more in the numbered topics below. Here are the other six topics covered in the long message:

—what the district will do in helping students better deal with concerns revolving around the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (7)

—how the district is going about planning for school reopenings and closings (6)

— how the district is regulating use of school campuses by summer school programs (4)

— regulations on other organizations may use school facilities (4)

—the coming end of grab-and-go meal distribution (2)

—summer school and extended school year plans (3)

—a short, general message with no details about graduation and moving-up ceremonies (1)

Regarding budget cuts (5), Addley said:

At the last BOE meeting, the Administration made recommendations to the Board of Education for consideration to close this gap. These included some very difficult choices that would significantly affect the quality of education.

« August 2022 »

Numerous parents and high school students who spoke at a packed Board of Education meeting on Tuesday criticized school administrators’ decision to retest nearly 300 Darien High School sophomores after a major cheating incident was discovered in mid-January. The speakers also said the retesting would hurt students’ grades in other courses when they had other “unit” tests to take the same week as the retests. Those speakers were supported with repeated loud applause from the room, packed with a standing-room-only crowd of at least 100. A smaller number of the speakers, backed by less applause, supported the decision. About 45 minutes of the special meeting was spent on the public comment portion in a room that was packed tightly with just over 100 parents and students.