By Walter Elliott
NEWARK – Gov. Phil Murphy’s 1:15 p.m. Aug. 12 announcement that all of New Jersey’s 600 public and charter school districts may open the 2020-21 school year with “all-remote learning” has school administrators here and throughout “Local Talk” land reworking their instructional procedure plans.
Administrators here in Newark Public Schools are deciding whether and how to deliver more laptops and other materials conducive to at home remote learning to all of the estimated 34,000 Kindergarten-12th Grade students’ homes. Sept. 8 is the district’s first day of schooling.
Murphy’s announcement comes less than 48 hours before Aug. 14. Friday has been the NPS’ deadline to learn from parents or legal guardians if they intend to keep their charges home for learning for 2020-21. It is to the understanding of “Local Talk” as of presstime that the Aug. 14 deadline still stands.
While school superintendents and administrators across the state are reworking their plans, they are at least glancing at what NPS will do. It is New Jersey’s largest school district in terms of student enrollment, worker employment, number of school buildings, budget and state aid.
“When our schools open in September, they must be ready to safely provide the high-quality education to all students that is a hallmark of New Jersey. We know the first day of school is not going to be like any other in our history. We’re fully committed to getting this right,” Murphy posted on Twitter.
Murphy’s announcement comes some three weeks before most public schools would have reopened – or at least logged on.
The school districts may start 2020-21 with their teachers instructing students on-line or via teleconference like Zoom. The districts, however, may phase in hybrid learning – where some days are spent online and others in an in-person classroom setting – later in the school year.
When and how the districts would have phased in their hybrid learning have been filed with the New Jersey Department of Education earlier this summer. Those plans may be modified by Murphy’s announcement – and whether the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus’ spread has been curbed.
Murphy’s decision is seen by observers as a reversal of his desire to start the new school year with some in-person instruction. A flurry of calls and actions from various communities have been mounting the last week.
NJEA President Marie Blistan plus respective New Jersey Association of School Administrators and N.J. Principals and Supervisors Association executive directors Richard Bozza and Patricia White sent a joint letter to Murphy Aug. 11 urging an all-remote learning start.
Newark Teachers Union President John Abeigon, that Tuesday morning, said, “If I’m a Newark parent and have children, I’m not sending my kid to school – especially if they have medical issues.”
The NJEA local had circulated a survey last week among its members whether they were willing to go physically back to their schools. NPS policy, previously approved by the NTU, allows teachers with documented health conditions or having approved medical or family leave can request to work remotely or online.
“At this rate, I’d advise everybody to keep their children home from school,” said Mayor and former Central High School Principal Ras Baraka during his Aug. 10 press briefing. “I wouldn’t send anybody to school.”
Members of the Newark Secondary Parents and Newark Education Workers Caucus meanwhile held a rally outside NPS’ headquarters at 465 Broad St., that Monday, calling for more information for parents on school building cleaning and ventilation.
“They need to start listening,” said NSP official Johnnie Lattner of the administration. “We’re talking about people’s lives here.”
