With just weeks left to finalize their reopening plans, local school districts are still grappling with how to bring students back with a pandemic raging around the U.S.
Questions abound: Will there be enough teachers, masks or cleaning supplies? Will parents play their part in keeping sick children home? What happens if a teacher or student tests positive for COVID-19?
What is certain is that schools will look and feel vastly different when they reopen. They will be emptier, with many families choosing full-time virtual learning. In classrooms, students will sit far apart, kindergartners will be taught not to share, temperatures will be taken at doors and lunches will be served to go.
In interviews, school leaders said they have crafted careful plans to reopen with social distancing, alternating in-person and virtual school days and strict cleaning protocols. But they remained worried.
"I’m confident we will have a plan that addresses as many things as we can prior to the opening," said Garfield Superintendent Anna Sciacca. "But there’s so much uncertainty and so many different scenarios that could occur that it makes it unnerving."
"Our concern is if there is a positive case of COVID. We don’t have enough direction on what to do. Will school be closed? Who will quarantine? How do we preserve health and safety? It's very hard to know and we have not been given that type of direction from the Department of Education."
In Dover, Superintendent Jim McLaughlin has to pull off the return in a working-class district where families may have few child-care options other than schools.
“What I’m most concerned about is coming back too quick, with too many students,” he said. “We really want to do everything we can to not have a situation where someone is seriously impacted because things went too quickly.”
There's anxiety in more affluent communities as well: In Bergen County's Northern Valley Regional District, a survey found one in 10 parents won't let kids go back to school, and the ability to provide ancillary activities, including sports and extracurriculars, is uncertain.
In the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, 60% of families said they intend to keep their children home full time in September, said Superintendent David Aderhold. The district has ordered protective equipment it needs in the fall, but he was concerned about long-term supply for items like masks, face shields and gloves.
"The longer we go, the more we need, but will the supply chain hold?" said Aderhold, also the president of the Garden State Coalition of Schools. "The majority of the nation is having major coronavirus problems."
Under state guidelines issued last month, districts have to publicize reopening plans at least four weeks before classes start in the fall. Despite extensive planning, school leaders recognize that their plans may change as new education and health guidance is released.
Local districts nonetheless are trying to make it work. Here's a look at how six of them are thinking about reopening in the fall:
Watch live July 23: NJ teachers union head, medical expert discuss school reopening
Northern Highlands
The Northern Highlands Regional High School District, which serves Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Saddle River and Upper Saddle River, will rotate three groups of students, who will come to school every third day. Under the arrangement, 475 students will be in the building at a time instead of 1,400.
Hallways will be one-way, desks will be 6 feet apart and masks will be required, according to the district. Officials are still undecided on whether, or how, to restart sports and clubs.
Not all students will return to the high school in September. In surveys, 10% of parents said they will keep students at home in the fall. Their instruction will remain virtual, so they’ll follow along with live instruction on all school days.
Even with precautions in place, people are wary.
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“I am concerned about the health of students and teachers returning to the building when the virus has shown itself to reemerge quickly, as it has done in other states that reopened for business in the spring,” said Joy Wenberg, president of the Northern Highlands Home and School Association.
Wenberg said she was also worried about “having enough time and resources to identify and help students whose mental health has suffered because of isolation.”
Dover
Schools will assign a health aide to monitor staff and students upon arrival to check and record symptoms of COVID-19. They will dedicate an area in schools to isolate anyone who exhibits symptoms.
The district also has to consider needs of its predominantly working-class community and the fact that space in school buildings is tight, said McLaughlin, the superintendent.
“People need to work,” he said. “Who’s going to stay with the kids? Parents are going to work five days a week and oftentimes an older sibling has to take care of the kids.”
The district expects to bring students back for shortened days, McLaughlin said. Dover will still distribute meals, but “it most likely won't happen through a sit-down type of lunch or breakfast like we normally have,” he said.
While they’ve secured computer devices for all students who need them, the district is still finding ways to ensure all are connected to the internet at home.
Garfield
The district is considering a plan to create an A and B day schedule, meaning students will split in two groups and come in on alternating days. Those not in the classroom will participate in virtual learning at home. The district is also considering shorter days so students can take lunch to go and avoid cafeteria crowds.
Not all students will return. In a survey, a third of families indicated they would keep their children home in the fall, Sciacca said. That poses a challenge for teachers who have to lead classroom lessons while also ensuring that those learning remotely have the guidance and help they need, she said.
Overall, schools are better prepared for virtual learning compared to March, when they had to change over with little notice, said Jennifer Alfonso, principal of James Madison Elementary School 10. This fall, every student in the district will have a take-home computer device and teachers will be well-versed in online education platforms.
At School 10, start times will be staggered for different grades so temperatures can be taken at the door without long lines forming. Classrooms will be set up for 11 students instead of 22.
Alfonso said making students feel comfortable was a top concern.
"You want them to love coming into the building and love coming to learn," Alfonso said. "You don't want them to lose that feeling, but it's hard when you have to separate the children and tell them they are not sharing. "
Glen Rock
The district has posted its reopening plans online. Under the scheme, elementary school students will split into two groups, with half attending in the morning and rest in the afternoon. During an hourlong break between those sessions, the school and classrooms will be cleaned.
Students, who will be in school for about three hours, will also participate in virtual learning in order to complete a mandatory four-hour minimum for the school day. Children cannot bring items from home, including drinks, bags or books, and will be required to wear face coverings throughout the school day.
The middle school and high school will use an A and B day rotation system, in which half of the students attend on their designated day while the other half learns virtually. Siblings will be placed in the same group.
Students who don't get free or reduced lunch at school will be required to bring in bagged lunch. Students will be required to wear a face covering all day except when eating lunch. They will be seated 6 feet apart during lunch, with three students per table, and will not be permitted to face each other.
Paterson
Paterson, with 28,000 stuffed into overcrowded schools, cannot bring entire populations back to buildings because of social distancing concerns. Instead, the district is working on a hybrid schedule to rotate groups for in-person and remote learning, said district spokesman Paul Brubaker.
“The classroom that had 30 students in March will only have about half as much when school buildings reopen,” he said.
The Facilities Department is working on removing desks and clutter to clean buildings. The district has placed bids to buy personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer for staff and students. They’re also trying to secure protective measures such as collapsible plastic partitions for students’ and teachers’ desks, Brubaker said.
Some parents have indicated that they will not send their children to school buildings when they reopen and will remain remote, Brubaker said. The district said it will have computer devices for every student in the district to address the need for remote learning in the fall.
Randolph
The Randolph district is weighing three options for the fall. One would bring students back for in-person instruction full time. An alternative would allow for students to return every school day, but with an early release schedule and possible child-care options.
A third option would allow students and staff to come to school on a rotating basis. The district would follow this plan if it determines it can’t safely house or transport all enrolled students, said Superintendent Jennifer Fano.
Busing is a challenge, as students will be required to wear a face covering and families will likely be responsible for screening their children prior to allowing them on a bus, Fano said.
The district will keep students distanced from one another in classrooms, hallways and other spaces and give extra time during the day to allow for handwashing, mask “breaks” and physical movement between rooms, Fano said.
“There are several variations under a hybrid plan, and it may not look the same at all levels in the school district—elementary, middle, and high,” she said.
Hannan Adely is an education and diversity reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: adely@northjersey.com Twitter: @adelyreporter
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