Will N.J. schools bring back remote learning option for families scared to send kids back into classrooms? – NJ.com

At the start of the new school year, New Jersey eliminated the option of letting parents chose to keep their kids at home for remote learning instead of attending in-person classes in public schools.

But at least one school district is bringing the remote option back temporarily this month as COVID-19 infection rates continue to rise.

Montclair Public Schools officials announced they will reopen schools for in-person classes Monday — but families will be able to chose to keep their children learning at home for virtual classes for the next two weeks if they are worried about the virus numbers.

“We have received emails from families expressing concerns about returning their children to in-person learning. We understand your anxiety and the district will offer a virtual option for those who do not feel comfortable with in-person instruction at this time,” Jonathan Ponds, superintendent of Montclair schools, said in a message to parents and students.

Students in the suburban Essex County district will be able to switch to remote learning for 10 days, starting Wednesday. That will give teachers two school days to set up virtual learning in their classes, district officials said.

Montclair students will not be counted as absent if they miss the first two days of school after the winter break while they wait for remote learning to begin Wednesday, Ponds said.

It is unclear if other New Jersey school districts will also bring back optional remote learning temporarily as COVID-19 positive tests and hospitalizations continue to hit some of the highest daily totals since the start of the pandemic. State officials have resisted calls for a return of the remote learning option for families statewide.

Before the start of the 2021-2022 school year, Gov. Phil Murphy said giving all families the flexibility to pull kids in and out of classrooms for remote learning would no longer be a statewide option, as it was the previous school year.

“We are expecting Monday through Friday, in-person, every school, every district. Obviously, if the world goes sideways, we have to revisit that. But as of this sitting, the answer is no,” Murphy said in March when he announced how the new school year would be structured.

With COVID cases hitting record high levels, New Jersey districts have been split over whether to reopen for in-person classes on Monday.

The list of districts that announced they will switch to all remote classes after the winter break include: Newark, Bayonne, Camden, Carteret, Harrison, Irvington, New Brunswick, North Bergen, Paterson, Pennsauken, South Orange-Maplewood, Union City, Lower Cape May Regional and many more.

Some of the state’s nearly 600 public school districts are still weighing their options and will make a final decision this weekend.

Murphy said Friday he has no plans to close schools statewide and switch to remote learning, as he did in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. He said the decision should be left to local school and health officials.

“We are working aggressively (with the school districts),” Murphy said. “We will do everything possible to keep kids safe in schools.”

Murphy has repeatedly said remote classes hurt student learning and the state should do everything it can to keep classrooms open, especially for low-income students and families that struggle to find childcare when students don’t have a classroom to go to.

Deciding whether to require students to return to the classroom has been difficult for many school officials, who have to weigh worrying health data against the needs of students, teachers and families with limited guidance from state officials.

“We have to open schools on Monday and our inboxes are full with anxious messages from parents and educators,” Robert Zywicki, superintendent of schools in Mount Olive in Morris County, said earlier this week.

On Thursday, New Jersey’s map tracking COVID activity turned red in the majority of the state’s counties, signaling “very high” virus spread. The last time the statewide map, called the COVID-19 Activity Level Report, was mostly red was April 2020, at the start of the pandemic.

The move to red triggered new school health guidelines for schools in the red counties: Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Warren, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union.

The updated guidelines for schools in counties that are red on the map include limiting participation in extracurricular activities to vaccinated students and staff and conducting twice-weekly testing of everyone, regardless of vaccination status, participating in extracurricular activities.

However, the state health guidelines are only guidelines and some school districts have made their own rules and COVID protocols.

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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.