West Orange Superintendent Addresses In-Person Instruction Concerns for Upcoming School Year – TAPinto.net
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Road Back guidebook, which was issued by the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) to help with the safe reopening of schools in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic has been instrumental in the decisions taken by Dr. Scott Cascone, superintendent of West Orange Public Schools.
During Monday’s West Orange Board of Education meeting, he addressed many concerns that parents have about the state of in-person instruction for the current school year and for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year in September.
Starting with social distancing guidelines, which according to the CDC indicate that social distancing 6 feet is not required if your local municipality or region is below the moderate range of risk, Cascone said that he along with other superintendents are “awaiting further guidance from the NJDOE and the Department of Health (DOH) as to whether they are going to align their guidelines with the most recent guidelines from the CDC.”
Regardless, Cascone continued, the region remains, as of last week, in the high-risk range.
He added that if the trajectory of cases and emerging herd immunity are favorable, there is a possibility that this region will move below the moderate range of risk allowing for the combining of cohorts at all school levels and the ability to offer more time on-site.
In terms of starting school in September, referencing a letter sent to the community on Monday, “there really is no way to know what September will bring,” Cascone said, but he continued that if the pandemic continues to improve, it will be possible to “decrease social distance requirements” and to bring in students for full-days everyday of the week, while simultaneously having a virtual only cohort instructed by virtual only teachers.
Currently, there are no school districts in Essex County that have full-day in-person learning for five days a week, Cascone said, but he added West Orange is at least working towards five half-days a week.
Cascone also added that there are no current plans to change the high school start time, which shifted to 9:45 a.m. at the start of March.
The time was changed in order to accommodate the time needed to sanitize buses between routes.
“The only way around this is if we did not sanitize the buses in between routes,” Cascone said, continuing that this is “not an option which I’m willing to exercise” until the precaution has been lifted under state guidelines.
In terms of having Friday as the day for deep cleaning, Cascone explained that it was submitted as part of the district’s reopening plans to the DOE. The district would need to send revised plans for approval to reverse the protocol. Cascone explained that he believes that it sends a “mixed message” to the community to abandon deep cleaning when “hundreds of school districts around the state have indicated that the day for deep cleaning is necessary.”
In terms of accommodations, there are approximately 60 staff members out on workplace accommodations, who are expected to return after receiving both doses of the vaccine.
The superintendent was also happy to announce a partnership with Mayor Robert Parisi and the West Orange DOH to set up a vaccination clinic on site for staff.
Although many parents, including Julie Bookbinder, are thankful to the superintendent for rolling out the hybrid program, some want to see more options for in-person instruction.
Bookbinder, , the mother of elementary school aged children, said that the district should “keep moving ahead” to see what more can be done during this school year for in-person learning instead of only focusing on the next school year.
She suggested that days could be made longer or that students could start using outdoor spaces for breaks and eating lunch.
Bookbinder also asked about the purpose of having two weeks of remote schooling following spring break and the necessity of continuing to have virtual Fridays for a full-day of cleaning.
In response, Cascone said that he will look into extending the school day and into beginning on-site instruction on Fridays at the elementary school level after receiving further guidance from the local DOH.
As the weather gets warmer, the superintendent agreed that it would be a good idea to start utilizing outdoor spaces for mask breaks and lunches.
In terms of the plan to remain virtual for two weeks after spring break, Cascone explained that it was a recommendation made by the local DOH, and he will be meeting with them this week to see if it is still recommended. He added that he would also ask about necessity to maintain Friday as a full day of cleaning.
In response to a question from board member Cheryl Merklinger about using barriers in the classroom, Cascone said that the district will move forward with purchasing them to allow more students in the classroom and to lessen the distance.
At the end of his report, the superintendent said that he encourages community stakeholders to “bring a similar level of advocacy” to the NJDOE and DOH to align their guidelines with those released by the CDC, the APA, and WHO, but also added that it is “unreasonable” to ask him, a non-medical professional to go with recommendations in the absence of guidance from governing bodies.
The board congratulated West Orange High School Physical Education, Health, and Driver’s Education teacher William Urbanski and Math teacher Lynne Steinberg on their retirement after teaching in the district for 34 and 20 years respectively.
WOHS Administrative Assistant Michele Carroll and WOHS custodian John Diminich will also be retiring after 33 and 19 years in the district, respectively.
The next special WOBOE meeting will be held on March 18 at 7:30 p.m. The next regular meeting will be on March 22.
Click HERE to access a survey about continuing virtual only instruction.