Bloomfield Schools Reluctantly Opt For All-Remote Reopening – Bloomfield, NJ Patch

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Public School District is following in the footsteps of several of its Essex County neighbors and starting the school year remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic.

For now, the district’s virtual-only classes will last through September, Superintendent Salvatore Goncalves said. He added that the decision comes with “reluctance.”

Goncalves elaborated on the decision to go all-remote in a recent letter to the community, which follows below. See the district’s full reopen plan here.

“I want to start out by saying that I don’t take any of the decisions that I announce tonight lightly; indeed, along with my cabinet, I have worked tirelessly at the governor’s directive for the past six weeks in creating a comprehensive hybrid learning plan for nearly 6,300 pupils in our district with alternating virtual and face-to-face instruction structured around a comprehensive cleaning/disinfecting plan for all of our buildings, classrooms and ancillary instructional spaces. During the development of this plan, I remained in constant communication with my board, our association leaders as well as state and county agencies providing frequent updates regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Because of this combined hard work, we have transmitted a hybrid plan to the New Jersey Department of Education – County Office of Education – for approval in late July; as recently as last week, we continue to modify this plan at the directive of the Department and we have modified our proposal in light of the feedback received from our community survey results. In short; we have engaged in this hard work because we believe that pupils need to return to the classroom – particularly due to the social and emotional benefit most essential for our PreK-6 population.

“Despite our best efforts to develop a plan to partially restore pupil-teacher contact, I am reminded of my foremost responsibility as your superintendent – a duty that must be prioritized higher than any of the considerations I have shared with you; my first commitment is to preserve the health, safety and welfare of our pupils, teachers, administrators and support staff and given that daunting responsibility, it is with reluctance but with a particularly cautious mindset that I announce that the Bloomfield Public Schools with have a complete virtual learning plan for September 2020.

“The changing landscape of this virus in the past six months has provided many new challenges in a large portion of our country. Although New Jersey appears to be on an upward trajectory in managing this virus, we have no guarantees regarding a possible resurgence in the Fall and in light of the governor’s executive order allowing teaching staff members to elect an all remote teaching plan for the fall, I am driven by a twofold concern: 1) Bloomfield will not have adequate instructional coverage to support an in-school, hybrid plan; and, 2) a potential outbreak even an isolated transmission within our schools would force an immediate shutdown during the Fall, further compromising an already vulnerable learning model.

“Although this announcement – comforting to some and perhaps disconcerting to others – is the plan for September, please be reminded that our hybrid plan is ready to be implemented and I will be reporting back to the public on a monthly basis beginning in September.

“I will continue to work with my senior cabinet and my assistant superintendent on evaluating the most current data from federal, state and county agencies in order to determine current risk assessment as well as the willingness of our faculty to return to school in a modified learning plan. In the interim, please contact me directly if I can provide any additional information. Our virtual learning model will be available for public inspection immediately following board of education approval. Thank you again for your support and continue to stay well.”