Only two public schools remain remote as New Jersey enters its final month of the school year and in-person learning continues to climb to new highs.
As of June 1, state figures show 361 school districts were in hybrid instruction, seven were remote and 402 were fully in-person — the tenth week in a row the number of in-person districts increased. Forty-one districts have different educational formats for individual schools.
During the peak of New Jersey’s second coronavirus wave in January, 339 districts were totally virtual. This is the first week more than 400 districts, including charter and approved special services schools, have been open for in-person learning.
The rates of increase for in-person schooling have begun to slow as districts enter their final weeks of school. There are three more in-person districts this week than last, while two weeks ago that number increased by 50.
Paterson and Passaic are the only two public school districts that have not returned students to classrooms, and neither has announced a date when general education students will be allowed to return. (Paterson will have a limited opening for English language learners and some special needs students next Monday.)
Although the number of virtual districts has been steadily decreasing, two public schools, two charter schools, and two special service schools remain totally remote.
Additionally, Montague Township School District was forced to go virtual for two weeks after coronavirus cases among faculty’s families caused a staffing shortage. They had previously been learning in-person and will resume in-person education soon.
“We know there are myriad reasons why the remaining districts have not taken this step,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at a press conference earlier this month when 13 districts remained remote. “But the simple fact remains that we cannot leave 43,000 of our students out of their classrooms for an entire year. That is not fair to them, their families, their communities, or their futures.”
Murphy has repeatedly called for all districts to reopen for either hybrid or in-person learning, announcing in March that some schools could relax social distancing measures.
The number of students being offered each educational type does not take into account students who are voluntarily learning virtually, an option all schools must provide. When Newark, the state’s largest school district, reopened for hybrid learning, just 39% of its 36,460 students returned to classrooms.
State officials have said that as of October 2020, the most recently available data, about a quarter of students in a district with open schools were voluntarily learning virtually.
The option to learn virtually will be rescinded in the fall, and reserved only for students and teachers with medical concerns, Murphy said. And despite the dropping of the mask mandate in most settings, face coverings will continue to be mandatory in the classroom through the rest of this school year.
When students return for the next school year, mask will likely still be required because it’s unlikely children under 12 will have access to vaccines before classes start.
“We’ll have masking in schools in the fall as a result of that,” Murphy said during an interview on MSNBC. “We’ll continue to keep a fair amount of steps we have in place in the fall.”
There have been 281 outbreaks and 1,263 cases of the coronavirus linked to schools in New Jersey. For cases to qualify as an outbreak, they must be confirmed to have been transmitted in the classroom or during academic activities. All 21 counties have seen an in-school outbreak.
All New Jersey residents 12 and older are currently eligible for the vaccine, and Pfizer will likely seek authorization for younger children this fall. Over 232,000 children between 12-17 have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
The six districts that have been remote the entire year are:
- Englewood on the Palisades Charter School: Charter
- Gray Charter School: Charter
- St. Joseph’s School For The Blind: Special services school district
- Passaic City School District: Public District
- Paterson Public School District: Public District
- Matheny School and Hospital: Special services school district
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Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
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2 public districts still remote while more than 337 are open for in-person learning - NJ.com
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