TRENTON —New Jersey schools can begin the academic year
remotely, Gov Phil Murphy announced Wednesday, but in order to
access the online option, districts will have to prove to the state
they cannot reopen safely for in-person learning.
“There has to be a rationale associated with not opening at
least in hybrid,†Murphy said at his regular coronavirus
briefing. “There’s got to be a reason for it.â€
The governor said he would be signing an executive order
“officially clearing†both public and nonpublic pre-K through
12 schools and colleges and universities to reopen with some
in-person classes for the upcoming academic year.
Murphy said school districts — most of which have already
submitted reopening plans to the state Department of Education —
will be able to resubmit their plans enumerating the challenges
they face by reopening for in-person learning. Some of the factors
the DOE will consider in allowing a district to go all-remote
include an inability to properly social distance due to space
constraints, a lack of personal protective equipment, poor
ventilation or other serious health concerns.
If a district must go online-only, Murphy said, they must assure
the state they will be working to reopen in-person and provide a
date by which they estimate they can have students in school
buildings.
Murphy also said districts will be able to delay their official
start dates, something Assembly members Mila Jasey (D-Essex) and
Pam Lampitt (D-Camden) have been pushing in the state
Legislature.
Wednesday’s announcement marks a major shift from the
governor’s assertions in recent weeks that schools reopen with
some in-person learning, but was not wholly unexpected as
coronavirus cases statewide have begun to creep back up and
parents, teachers, administrators and community members have all
pressured Murphy to rethink his in-person requirement.
Murphy on Wednesday announced an additional 484 new cases of
Covid-19 and nine more deaths.
Late Tuesday night, the leaders of the New Jersey Association of
School Administrators, New Jersey Principals and Supervisors
Association and New Jersey Education Association
released a joint statement calling on Murphy and the state
Department of Education to direct all New Jersey public schools to
open remotely in September.
Murphy on Wednesday said his announcement was not a reversal
from his previous guidance, but rather a “continuation†of the
principles and policies he’s put forth in the past. By stopping
short of ordering all school districts to open virtually this fall,
the governor may be sending a political message that he won’t be
browbeat by the NJEA into making a decision.
In a text message to POLITICO, NJEA spokesperson Steven Baker
said the union stands by its statement that New Jersey schools need
stronger statewide guidance around reopening.
“We believe that all districts should open remotely,†Baker
wrote.
Murphy has in the past left open the possibility of rolling back
his in-person plan and reiterated his belief on Wednesday that as
the weeks pass, this plan, too, may change.
In July, Murphy loosened restrictions, allowing parents to
opt-in to remote-only learning for their kids.
In the past few days and weeks, more districts, including
Elizabeth, Newark, Bayonne and others have begun submitting
remote-only plans to the DOE, hoping for the department’s
approval. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told his community
last Monday, “I wouldn’t send anybody to school.â€
Schools will still have to submit their plans to the DOE for
approval — regardless of whether those plans call for all online
learning — and continue planning for the year to come. But with
so little time before September, and a likely influx of plans,
it’s unclear how the department will have time to review and
approve (or deny) all of the nearly 600 proposals they will receive
this month.
Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said during
Wednesday’s briefing that the DOE will work “as quickly as we
can†to take action on the plans, but Murphy added that the
department would not “rubber stamp” any proposals without proper
review.
The governor and state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli
said guidance from both the state health and education departments
is still being finalized, hopefully by end of day Thursday.
Persichilli said the health department will divide the state
into six regions and develop weekly risk assessments based on new
cases, spot positivity rates and surveillance of health systems
with patients exhibiting flu-like symptoms to help local health
departments navigate the school year.
Not every school or every family will be best situated to begin
virtual learning in the fall. According to the DOE’s most recent
estimates, some 230,000 of the 1.4 million K-12 students in New
Jersey
do not have consistent or reliable access to the internet or a
device for online learning.
In response to POLITICO’s question about how the state plans
to assist districts that are unable to meet the health benchmarks
for in-person reopening, but are not prepared to provide adequate
virtual learning for all of their students, Murphy said “we are
pounding away. … It’s a frustration for many of us.â€
“In this environment, particularly, you cannot turn on a
dime,†Murphy said.
