New Jersey schools will have the option of staying closed and teaching virtually if they meet a list of conditions, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday in a decision that could change back-to-school plans for many of the state’s 1.4 million public school students.
Murphy’s announcement means the state’s nearly 600 school districts, which were previously told they needed to hold at least some in-person classes to start the 2020-2021 school year, have a few weeks to finalize their plans before the school year begins.
There is no one-size-fits-all plan for all of the state’s public school districts, Murphy said. The state will continue to allow local school boards to make their own decisions about what’s best for their districts.
“We recognize that for some districts, there are legitimate and documentable reasons why some of these core health and safety standards can not be met on Day One,” Murphy said at his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton. “For these districts, today we are reaffirming our commitment to provide the flexibility for districts to do what is best for their school community.”
Under the new revised plan:
— Both non-public and public schools must file a certification with the state Board of Education that they can meet the state’s health and safety rules, including social distancing guidelines, on the first day of in-person classes.
— Schools will need to complete a checklist on the state Department of Education website saying they can meet more than 40 guidelines for in-person classes. The items on the list include: social distancing in classrooms and on buses; safe school entry points; requiring masks; creating a contact tracing plan; setting up a safe way for students to eat meals; and a plan for recess and gym classes outside.
— If schools say they can’t meet one or more of the guidelines, the districts can request to start start the year with all-remote learning.
— Districts that are granted permission to start the year all-remote will need to show they are trying to make changes to start in-person classes at a later date. “Public school districts will need to spell out their plans for satisfying these unmet standards, and a date by which they anticipate the ability to resume in-person instruction,” Murphy said.
— Additional new health guidelines for schools are “being hammered out” and will be available by Thursday at the latest, Murphy said.
State officials said they were unsure how many school districts have already asked to start the school all-remote, but said the vast majority of districts have created hybrid plans with some in-person classes.
Neely Hackett, the superintendent of Willingboro, said her district is among those requesting to start the school year all-remote because its schools are not prepared for in-person classes. The district wants to keep school buildings closed through the end of the first marking period in November.
“We are simply not ready to move forward,” Hackett said at the governor’s press conference.
Willingboro eventually wants to use a hybrid system with students going to class two days a week on a rotating basis and learning at home the remaining three days a week.
She listed several reasons Willingboro does not want to offer in-person classes including: inadequate ventilation systems and a lack of air conditioning; back-ordered masks and other personal protective equipment; a delay in the delivery of physical barriers that need to be installed in schools; additional time needed to buy computers; and more time needed to train teachers in how to simultaneously teach in the classroom and via video for students at home.
East Brunswick’s superintendent also attended the press conference and said his district is ready to hold in-person classes and will not ask for permission to stay all remote.
The state’s nearly 600 school districts have already begun submitting their reopening plans to the state Department of Education for approval. Several districts — including Elizabeth, Jersey City, Bayonne — said they planned to turn in plans that included no in-person classes, going against the state’s earlier guidelines.
The governor’s decision to allow school districts more flexibility in how they reopen schools follows intense pressure from teachers who felt unsafe returning to class and a growing chorus of lawmakers and district leaders who wanted schools to remain closed.
It also comes as New Jersey’s wider push to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic has has largely stalled due to rises in the infection rate, leaving the state’s economic recovery in limbo.
Murphy ordered all New Jersey schools to close beginning March 18. They remained closed through the end of the 2019-20 school year while students in thousands of public and private schools learned remotely.
The governor’s original school reopening plan, released in June, said public schools would be required to reopen at least partially. Some districts had planned to limit student’s in-person instruction to as little as one half-day a week, while a few said they would offer five days of classes. Most districts were planning hybrid plans, mixing in-person classes with several days of at-home learning a week.
As more parents demanded to keep their children at home, Murphy in July announced all families would also have an all-remote option for public school if they preferred it. But districts were still asked to come up with reopening plans with at least some in-class learning for all students.
Murphy had previously said he believed it was important for New Jersey to offer in-person classes because many low-income and working parents did not have the time, space or childcare options to continue teaching their kids at home.
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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.
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