Newark Extends Remote Learning Through January, Keeping Classrooms Closed For Several More Months – Patch.com

By Patrick Wall Oct 19, 2020, 7:37pm EDT

Newark will extend remote learning until late January, the district said Monday evening, a decision that means more than 30,000 students will have spent nearly a year out of school and learning from home.

The state’s largest school district had tentatively planned to resume in-person learning next month, and teachers were told last week that they would begin setting up their classrooms on Nov. 2. As recently as Monday afternoon, the union told teachers to expect a district survey asking their views on returning to classrooms next month.

Newark’s decision to keep classrooms closed for at least three more months comes as New Jersey has experienced a recent uptick in coronavirus infections. Newark has also seen a steep rise in cases, which Mayor Ras Baraka last week called a “the second wave” of the pandemic. The city’s COVID test positivity rate was 7.4%, Baraka said last week, citing a three-day average. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that communities with a 14-day test positivity rate of 5% to 8% face a moderate risk of in-school virus transmission.

On Monday evening, the district posted a brief notice on its website saying that all-remote learning will continue until at least Jan. 25, but offered no explanation. The abrupt decision marks the second time Newark has delayed in-person learning, which was originally scheduled to begin in September.

A couple of other districts — Paterson Public Schools and KIPP New Jersey, which operates 15 Newark charter schools — have also extended remote learning until January, citing the ongoing pandemic. But nearly 500 New Jersey districts have offered at least some in-person learning this school year. So far, the state has only seen 22 COVID-19 outbreaks in schools.