Coronavirus Cases As West Orange Schools Reopen: UPDATED – Patch.com

WEST ORANGE, NJ — NOTE: This article has been updated with a revised hybrid timeline, released by school officials on Jan. 28.

Multiple cases of the coronavirus have recently been confirmed on the West Orange High School hockey team, as well as a case of COVID-19 at Redwood Elementary School, district officials said earlier this week.

Both announcements came on Tuesday, a day after the West Orange Public School District marked a big milestone as schools gradually reopen under its hybrid plan.

PreK and some special education students who opted in to the hybrid plan returned for in-person learning on Jan. 19. Grades K-2 and K-12 students with intellectual/behavioral disabilities returned on Jan. 25.

Students in grades 3-5 were scheduled to return on Feb.1, and grades 6-12 on Feb. 8. But officials have tweaked the timeline for those grade levels yet again. The new timeline, as of Thursday, follows below.

See more information on the reopening plan at the district website.

West Orange Superintendent Scott Cascone released the following details about the recent COVID-19 cases.

HOCKEY TEAM – “This correspondence serves as notice that several confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the West Orange High School hockey team have been brought to our attention. Contact tracing has been conducted and notifications to students and staff have been taking place over the course of the day. The necessary quarantine has been implemented to further restrict the spread of the virus. Our ability to provide a safe in-person experience depends on the effective implementation of the safety protocols we have established. That being said, in my ongoing focus relative to community and school spread mitigation strategies, it is certainly advisable at this time to engage in an evaluative process involving responsible staff and administration in order to understand the degree to which we can continue to offer indoor sports while being mindful of in-person instruction, and simultaneously being mindful of community, staff, and student safety.”

REDWOOD SCHOOL – “This letter is to inform you that an individual at Redwood Elementary School has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). The school district is working closely with public health officials and is following CDC, state, and local health department guidance in order to ensure the health and safety of our community. Any individual who was identified as being a close contact with the positive individual has been notified to self-quarantine and monitor symptoms as a precaution, as per the guidance of the West Orange Health Department. All exposed areas in the school have been disinfected and cleaned and all schools are disinfected on a daily basis. The district continues to work in consultation with the local health department on this matter and we have been advised that there is no need to close school. The West Orange Health Department has advised the district that no additional action is necessary at this time.”

The West Orange Public School District was one of several in Essex County that chose to start the school year with all-online classes. It was supposed to switch to a hybrid learning model in November, including some in-person classes. But administrators hit the brakes on their reopen plan as COVID-19 cases spiked throughout the region.

According to Cascone, the decision to reopen schools under the hybrid plan came after “months of “careful and painstaking deliberation,” and has the “full support” of the West Orange Board of Education.

“We will continue to evaluate our progress and success on a weekly basis, and will adjust, pivot, or pause the plan at any such time that it is advised by the public health and medical authorities and/or by administrative discretion,” Cascone said.

District administrators gave local parents a glimpse into what a “hybrid classroom” looks like for kindergarten students in a video released Tuesday.

The district says it’s taking all necessary precautions to keep kids and staff members safe. But it’s also up to families to be smart outside of school hours, too.

“It bears mentioning that both the success of this endeavor as well as the safety of our students and staff will be determined in part by how responsibly and seriously our families take precautions while their children are not in school,” Cascone said. “This is an oath of the utmost importance which I am asking all families to take solemnly.”

“Today, as a community, we began phase 2 of our return to in-person schooling,” administrators wrote Monday. “While there have been many dialogues and debates, one thing is clear … Smart actions in our everyday lives enable students and staff to flourish inside our buildings. It’s on each and every one of us to take smart actions outside of the school buildings to ensure the safety and well-being of our students and staff inside the buildings.”

Some parents and community members in West Orange have been urging local school administrators to “stay the course” when it comes to reopening for in-person classes amid the coronavirus crisis.

An online petition to “reopen our schools” got hundreds of signatures before Monday’s shift into Phase 2 of the hybrid plan.

The petition reads:

“The science overwhelmingly suggests that young children are not driving transmission of COVID-19, and schools can be safe places for staff and students of all ages, even with spread in the greater community. This is particularly true with simple, low-tech precautions – for example masking, face shields, limiting close contact, cohorts and opening windows for ventilation. Many local public and private schools, following CDC and state guidelines, have been running for months without major issue. Notably, the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club are operating smoothly in some of our school buildings. Even when cases do occur, the testing, tracing and quarantining process used in other districts has been proven sufficient in limiting in-school spread. To ignore all of this evidence is to further children and families’ suffering with no rational justification.”

However, other parents have argued that a return to classrooms is premature.

More than 900 people have signed an online petition “to delay West Orange schools in-person instruction” as of Thursday. It reads:

“We, concerned parents, teachers, and other school personnel of West Orange schools, are uniting to send a clear message to Dr. Cascone and the West Orange Board of Education that schools should remain closed until teachers and school administrators have the opportunity to be vaccinated. We are in solidarity with the many teachers who have voiced concerns about hybrid learning. Our teachers and other school personnel put their hearts and souls into their work, and shouldn’t be expected to risk their lives.

“We believe that waiting for teachers to have the opportunity to be vaccinated provides a layer of protection against the most dangerous aspects of the virus. Though we know and experience the difficulties of virtual learning and all yearn for a return to in-person instruction for the sake of our children and ourselves, we know that we must prioritize the health of everyone in our community. We cannot, in these perilous times, focus on solutions that benefit some while endangering others.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Don’t forget to visit the Patch West Orange Facebook page. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Sign up for Patch email newsletters.