TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J.— Gov. Phil Murphy says New Jersey should expect all schools to reopen in the fall as vaccine availability continues to gain ground.
He made the announcement on Monday, March 1, after revealing that teachers, day care workers, and perhaps others, including students, will soon be allowed to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
“I think there are fairly straightforward answers to this. We would fully expect, assuming things go the direction they’re going, that we will be in-person for school in September,” Murphy said.
He added he would be “very surprised and disappointed” if that doesn’t come to pass.
“I think we will get there, and we are getting there at a minimum in a hybrid format. But I hope even more full in-person, assuming we can do it safely and responsibly,” he said.
Murphy has been under increasing pressure to provide vaccines to teachers and to require they return to school. Many parents have spoken out, including in the Pascack Valley, about the burden families face in managing home-bound and hybrid teaching schedules.
Parents, particularly many working parents, say school is safe to attend and that their kids have been missing out on too much.
Murphy acknowledged that the situation has been “incredibly stressful for everybody, for parents, kids, educators, administrators, period, full stop.”
He added, “You can’t underestimate the stress of the school year. Educators know that more than anybody. Moms and dads know that more than anybody, and our kids do. But I hope we’re a lot more in-person in this school year before it ends.”
He suggested vaccinating educators is going to be in the wheelhouse of the state Department of Health, the Department of Education, partners at the New Jersey Educators Association, and local school leaders.
Meanwhile, there have been small protests in the Township of Washington, in front of the Westwood Regional School District central office, where parents from the township and Westwood have been demanding the administration make in-person learning for all an option.
At the Feb. 25 school board meeting, Superintendent Raymond González presented a summary of the “next phase” reopening plans for the district to increase in-person learning opportunities safely. The presentation included an overview of the guiding resources, a side-by-side comparison of the plans, and next steps.
(For details visit wwrsd.org.)
González told Pascack Press in January that “In consideration of the health and safety of everyone and in order to provide peace of mind to our staff when implementing such a plan, we have decided to time our launch of the next phase with the decrease in COVID activity.”
He said, “In practical terms, given the current level of COVID-19 activity throughout the region, and the potential surges that have taken place since the December break, any change to our current model will not begin until there have been two consecutive weeks of YELLOW (Moderate Risk) as identified by the COVID-19 Activity Level Index (CALI).”
González said, “We will continue to monitor everything closely and if new variables are introduced that can allow us to implement the next phase sooner in a safe and responsible manner, we will consider it.”
Against this backdrop, and amid social media unrest in the district, a number of people connected with the district, and who have asked to remain anonymous, are complaining to Pascack Press that González is unfairly under fire and that postings circulating in connection with the plan are false, particularly in their comparisons with other school districts.
“They are trying to rip apart his re-opening plan, stating that he doesn’t want kids back in school… Rather he is following the advice from health department professionals,” said one person who is paid by the district but not authorized to speak for it.
“While some districts may have schools open five days a week, they all vary in the way the program is running. Meaning, some schools may have only two hours of instruction five days a week and no learning in the afternoon or some schools may have half of the student population coming in person three days a week and home two a week.”
The person said posts making the rounds do not accurately reflect what is happening.
“Absent also is information about the size of the district, the number of shared staff between elementary middle and high school, the demographic details of the district, and so many more factors that relate back to schools’ ability to create re-opening plans,” the person said.
Another person paid by the district but who asked we not share his or her name called for more communication from public health officials about the nature of the risk:
“Our superintendent is following the guidance of our health department, which indicates there is risk, yet our public officials are not telling us about the continued risk in any formal correspondence.”