West Essex Regional District Moves to All Remote Instruction Until Oct. 2 – TAPinto.net
NORTH CALDWELL, NJ — The West Essex Board of Education announced on Aug. 26 that the district will begin the school year fully remote beginning Sept. 8 and continuing until Oct. 2.
Originally the hybrid model with students in the buildings was to begin Sept. 17; instead, the hybrid plan with in-school instruction will now begin Monday, Oct. 5, a delay of 11 days.
As it turns out as the district is still awaiting materials and personal protection equipment so Superintendent Damion Macioci recommended to the Board that the school year begin for all students with full day of remote instruction, five days a week. The district had been planning for a five-phase plan whereby after a brief virtual plus start of the school year, a model of hybrid instruction was to begin with a half day schedule dividing the students into three cohorts. Macioci confirmed that the cohorts will not be affected, and principals will be following up with more details.
Throughout discussions as plans were being formulated, Macioci cautioned that there was always a potential for a need to pivot and alter plans if needed. Some of the outstanding items are plexiglass barriers for offices, antiseptic wipes, MERV filters for the HVAC system, upgrades to the electrical panels to handle new window air-conditioning units for the middle school, thermal scanners, and signage.
West Essex, like many other districts across the state, is waiting for items that had been previously ordered months ago.
Macioci stated the delay is not due to staff shortages, and the staffing issues presented are “resolvable.” The decision to delay was based upon the district’s commitment to the health and safety of the students and staff which is a top priority and the superintendent confirmed that “West Essex remains committed to opening schools in the safest way possible.”
The schedule provides for approximately 25 hours of instruction weekly, which is an additional 4.5 hours more instruction weekly than the cohort hybrid plan. Macioci reported that as per Governor Phil Murphy’s Executive Order, no in-person instruction will be allowed on election day Nov. 3 and the district’s revised calendar will reflect a virtual day then.
It was announced that SAT exams will be administered in-house on Wednesday, Sept. 23 and on Saturday, September 26 with limited attendance. PSAT/ACT and SAT exams will be also administered in district with limited attendance in October. Extra-curricular activities and clubs will continue both virtually and outdoors.
Following guidelines from the NJSIAA, the district will adhere to requirements and sports seasons have been modified accordingly. High school athletics will continue outdoors, and four seasons have been established. There will be a complete blackout period as per the NJSIAA from Aug. 29 through Sept. 13.
First season will be fall sports outdoors only and second season winter sports. Season two will begin Dec. 3, season three is planned to begin on Feb. 16, 2021, and there has not been a start date yet for season four that will be for spring sports. Gymnastics and girls volleyball will begin in season three.
Middle school athletics will run on a modified program with no travel or competition with outside schools, there will be inter-squad programs only. The district will utilize the North Caldwell and Fairfield Recreation facilities. Coaching stipends for the fall season were approved with the caveat that if the “Board or State suspends, restricts or prohibits the 2020 fall season” appointments shall be rescinded and the advisors will be paid a prorated amount of their stipend, if any, for services actually rendered.
Ryan Gupta, Director of Curriculum, and Instruction reviewed criteria for distance learning. n order to enhance the instruction presented in the spring, the academic advisory committees have made numerous changes to what had been the experience previously. Some of the new requirements are: mandatory attendance for each class, academic and behavioral expectation for distance learning aligned to those in-person instruction, cameras are required to be turned on unless otherwise approved as an exception, full day instruction, a later start time of 8:15 AM, rotating drop schedule Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday providing 50-minute blocks and all classes every Wednesday providing 35-minute blocks.
Gupta noted that the staff has been very supportive and engaged in taking advantage of professional development during the summer with 20-30 teachers attending 12 sessions, which were all optional. Professional development has been provided by numerous teachers who have provided turnkey instruction to their colleagues.
Board President Maryadele Wojtowicz on behalf of the board thanked the administrators and staff and remarked that the safety of the students and staff was of the utmost priority to the board. She continued noting that “October 5th is not that far off and to begin with remote is a positive and all have been working around the clock. It has been a huge task to prepare for school’s opening.”
Questions and comments from the board included Cynthia Egan asking if all supplies did come in by Sept. 10 would the start day be pushed up or would the in-person instruction still begin on Oct. 5. Macioci confirmed that the start date will remain Oct. 5. Jann Skelton asked for confirmation whether the staff will be working remotely as well during the first phase until October 5th and it was confirmed they would be “for the most part.” Ray Stampone confirmed that there will be no permits issued for facility usage by outside groups for the immediate time. Tony Rubinich questioned business administrator Melissa Kida for an accounting to date for items related to the health and safety of students and staff and Kida confirmed at this point $256,000 has been committed however it is expected that there will be additional costs moving forward.
Public comments provided at times thanks to the board and the administration for their efforts to date but also frustration regarding the delay of in-person instruction. Suggestions included the district’s website provide better indexing and highlights of an FAQ section, similar to other local district websites. Other concerns were how their children will be affected by falling behind in certain classes and how preparedness for standardized testing and college applications will suffer, particularly if a parent is unable to hire a private tutor.
Parents of classified students voiced concerned how their children will succeed when they are unable to sit for long periods of time at a computer and what they will actually learn in this fashion. Another parent questioned the need and the subsequent cost for 20 new air conditioning units in the middle school now that in-person instruction will not begin until October 5th. A parent questioned what the protocol will be if someone has tested positive and what the plan will be for contact tracing.
Under Finance agenda items included the rescission of the contract with Essex Regional Educational Services Commission to provide regular and athletic transportation for the district and the approval of Sussex County Regional Transportation Cooperative Commission to provide transportation. Kida noted that there was a cost savings to the district and the sending districts.
Agenda items related to personnel included two long time educators who have submitted their resignation for retirement purposes. Janice Emering after 39 years as a technology teacher and John Atura, a fine arts teachers in the district for 16 years will be leaving this school year. Emering effective Feb. 21, 2021 and Atura effective Nov. 1.
Also approved were four full time permanent substitutes, the positions were approved during the last meeting with the goal of providing continuity in the district when substitutes are needed.
Three policies approved on second reading all related to the pandemic were: policy 1648 – Restart and Recovery Plan, policy #1648.02 – Remote Learning Options for Families and policy 1649 – Federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act.