Gov. Phil Murphy’s announcement that the state is revising its reopening guidelines has increased the list of New Jersey school districts asking the state to let them start the school year with all-virtual classes.
Murphy said Wednesday the state’s nearly 600 districts may delay the start of in-person classes if they can prove to the state Department of Education that they are not able to meet the coronavirus safety guidelines released by the state in June.
Paterson, Plainfield and Passaic are among the districts that will ask the state to approve plans with no in-person classes and all-remote learning for the next few months, district officials said.
New Brunswick is another district that wants to go all-remote for the first half of the school year a local news site, reported.
The districts join Jersey City, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Willingboro which previously announced they plan to go all-remote for the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year if the state approves their reopening plans.
Meanwhile, several of the state’s teachers’ unions and associations of school administrators have called for an all-remote start for all public schools.
Elisabeth Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a statewide advocacy group representing districts projects that many other districts will take the same decision.“Frankly, yesterday’s press conference will lead to many, many more districts deciding on all virtual,” she said.
Murphy’s original guidelines called for all 2,500 of New Jersey’s public schools to start the new school year with at least some in-person classes.
You can read: New Jersey will allow all-remote learning option for students
However, the change of direction came out at the Governor’s press conference on Wednesday where he announced a revised plan that will allow districts to open all-remote if they can document they have obstacles.
These obstacles can be lack of personal protective equipment or inadequate ventilation systems that prevent them from safely opening school buildings. Additionally, districts have to establish the procedure they are using to solve their problems and set a new target date for restarting in-person classes.
“We recognize that for some districts, there are legitimate and documentable reasons why some of these core health and safety standards cannot be met on Day One,” Murphy said.
State officials said the majority of school districts have already submitted school reopening plans with hybrid models of instruction. But they left open the possibility that school districts could revise their plans and ask to go all-remote.
Noticias Newswire
