Many private schools still plan to reopen, even as public schools go remote. Here’s why. – NJ.com

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In two short weeks, Don Bosco Prep will do something that is impossible, at least according to an increasing number of educators across New Jersey.

When the new school year begins after Labor Day, the all-boys Catholic high school in Bergen County will open its doors to students and offer five-day a week, in-person instruction.

It is a decision the school’s president, Robert Fazio, says isn’t being made lightly. Not with the coronavirus pandemic that has killed thousands in the state and brought widespread calls from public school teachers and administrators for schools to remain shuttered.

“How this is going to play out? I don’t know,” Fazio said in an interview last week. “What I do know is that by the time [students] come to the door, they will be greeted on the street by a ton of professionals that will require them to follow the rules.”

It’s another unexpected twist in what has become a tortuous path to the new school year. Since Gov. Phil Murphy announced that public schools had the option of beginning the year with all-remote learning, school districts have flooded the state with requests. But Don Bosco in Ramsey is one of many private schools that are moving forward with reopening plans, even as they acknowledge the inherent risks of bringing scores of people together indoors.

Some private schools are counting on sprawling campuses, small class sizes and detailed health-safety protocols to carry them through hurdles that have tripped up even Major League baseball teams. They are doing so in a landscape that differs from the public sector: Private schools don’t have to worry about a unionized workforce potentially refusing to teach in-person.

On the other hand, they do have to be cognizant of parents who may not want to pay traditional tuition rates — Don Bosco costs more than $17,000 a year — when only online learning is offered.

In tiny Newfield in Gloucester County, private school principal Mary Alimenti has her worries as she prepares for full-time classes. Edgarton Christian Academy educates more than 300 students in preK-8th grade, and all but 15 of her grade schoolers have elected to return to the building, she said.

“It does keep us up at night, but I do feel confident that we’ve done everything we can to keep our children and families safe,” Alimenti said. “The kids want to be with their friends. They want to be in a different environment from where they learn by video.”

Edgarton Christian’s reopening comes as it installed an air conditioning system and bought air purifiers for each of its classrooms. Acrylic partitions have been set up to encourage distancing, there will be daily temperature checks and everyone will be required to wear masks, with teachers also provided face shields.

At Don Bosco (where 55 of its 750 students have opted for online instruction), school will look and feel a lot different than normal, Fazio said. There will be daily temperature checks, mandatory masks and six feet of social distancing between students strictly enforced. Outdoor learning will be encourage on the 22-acre campus. Classes will be capped at 15 students per room, and some students will follow along remotely from learning centers elsewhere on campus, thanks to video cameras hooked up to classroom smartboards.

To avoid packed hallways, bells between periods will be staggered. Instead of eating in the cafeteria, students will order lunch through their smartphones the day before, and they’ll be delivered in boxes to the classroom.

“Everything we can possibility control, we will,” Fazio said.

Initially, public schools throughout New Jersey were planning those kinds of safeguards. In June, Murphy said that all of the state’s 584 school districts and 87 charter schools were required to offer at least some in-person instruction with the new school year, saying it provides a richness of experience that cannot be replicated.

But Murphy reversed himself this month amid growing pressure from local officials, educators and union leaders. Public school systems are now allowed to open remotely, provided they offer a justifiable reason for why it is unsafe to return.

At least 100 districts now plan to switch to all-remote instruction, including large systems such as Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Elizabeth, which combined educate more than 115,000 students. They insist it is perilous to resume in-person classes, with the head of Elizabeth’s teachers union, the Elizabeth Education Association, calling distance learning “the only safe way to do it.”

Many of those same fears are being expressed by private school teachers as well — though without the backing of a union, they risk their livelihoods if they don’t return to school. On Friday, an elementary school teacher in the Diocese of Camden said she is worried her diocese is moving too quickly to resume full-time classes without being adequately prepared.

“You can’t do something like this just based on what parents may or may not want,” said the teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared for her job. “You have to do what’s right.”

Camden is among five Catholic dioceses in New Jersey that are prepping for the resumption of classes, though specific plans vary with each. In the Diocese of Paterson, for instance, some schools are returning to full-time classrooms, and others are intending a mix of in-person and remote learning, according to superintendent Mary Baier.

Still, the Diocese of Camden insists its schools can adhere to health and safety protocols required by the state.

“The plans reflect the intense work of principals and local task forces, which included other school leaders, teachers, and countless school and community members,” Superintendent William Watson wrote in a letter to parents. “Their tireless efforts have contributed to strong plans that will provide the opportunity for all students to attend school in person safely every day and a remote learning option for those who are not yet ready to return to school.”

Financially, coronavirus has already devastated schools in the dioceses, which have been strained by decades of falling enrollment. Across New Jersey, 20 Catholic schools closed permanently at the end up of June, and others have merged to stay afloat.

Private schools educate about 152,000 students in New Jersey, and not all of them are going to be returning to fully open schools. Some private schools are embracing hybrid education plans that mix face-to-face and online learning, allowing only a portion of the student body to be inside a building at one time.

That option has also proven popular with public school districts that are continuing to prime to reopen their buildings.

At Bergen Catholic in Oradell, the all-boys high school will be starting the year at 50% capacity, with half of its 700 students working remotely from home each day, said Brian Mahoney, the school’s president. Plans calls for a gradual transition to all in-person learning, with school at 75% capacity by the fourth week of classes, and 100% by the eighth week.

Bergen Catholic has instituted a slew of safety protocols, Mahoney said. Plexiglas dividers in the cafeteria. Improvements to its ventilation system. Hand sanitizing stations. Temperature checks. Separate entrances for each of its four grades.

“I feel comfortable going back because I know that we at Bergen Catholic are very well prepared,” Mahoney said.

Then there are the self-described “outliers” in the private school community such as Lacordaire Academy in Montclair.

When school begins on Sept. 14, it will be for online courses alone, given an older building that raises ventilation concerns during the waning warm days, said head of school Megan Mannato.

It isn’t until Oct. 13 that plans call for face-to-face teaching to resume. That allows Lacordaire to monitor how other schools’ reopenings are working out, and leaves open the possibility of continued remote instruction should coronavirus show a reemergence, Mannato said.

“This just gives us some time to really open in a safe manner,” Mannato said. “It just didn’t seem right to try to experiment with our population.”

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Riley Yates may be reached at ryates@njadvancemedia.com.