The Place for Jersey City News

Posts

Laptop Shortage, Lack of Internet Access Behind Bumpy Start to Remote Learning

/in , , , /by

With internet access going from luxury to necessity, communities can wind up completely out of the loop as state’s virtual curriculum looks to gain traction

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By Raven Santana

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop pointed to Zoom glitches, laptop delays and not enough Chromebooks as some of the issues the city experienced while opening the virtual school door last week for some 30,000 students.

“Early August, there was a rush from every municipality, literally across the county, to secure Chromebooks and that’s created delays, and obviously frustration, along with that,” the mayor said.

The issues were addressed by Jersey City Public Schools Superintendent Franklin Walker during a virtual town hall meeting.

“We had almost 10,000 parents complete the survey. And during that period of time, 24% said they needed a device, so we were looking at 2,400 requests. And based upon that, that’s what we planned our survey around and planned our need to fulfill the technology support for students,” Water said.

“I hear really mixed feedback from parents. A lot of them are struggling with some of the information, but, you know, it’s really uncharted territories for the Board of Education and the superintendent. It’s not easy and people are doing their best to work with them, but there is a degree of frustration,” Fulop said. “We hope that parents are patient. We are doing our best as a city and hopefully we’ll be back in school sooner than later.”

Sen. Michael Testa (R-Cumberland) says the technological gap expands far beyond the basic problems of not being able to provide students with Chromebooks.

“I think what has fallen through the cracks in this state is the fact that there are still sections of our state that don’t have access to the internet. So even if that student had a Chromebook or had a laptop given to them, the internet access is spotty at best,” Testa said. “Access to the internet for years was deemed a luxury, but now it’s a necessity. There are sections, significant sections, of my home county that do not have easy access to the internet.”

Gov. Phil Murphy addressed the issue at his coronavirus briefing on Monday.

“I’m not happy at all with the existence of any digital divide — rural, urban or suburban,” Murphy said. “But I don’t think any state is doing as much as we are doing right now to close that, and it ain’t going to be overnight.”

Vineland High School principal Suzette DeMarchi and assistant principal Jacqueline Roman Alvarez say their students now have internet every day. Their remedy for spotty internet came in the form of a grant for hotspots.

“What this does is it gives us the opportunity to get a free device with internet access — that hotspot — in our students’ hands that are in need. Yes, many of our families do have access. However, we need to make sure it’s in the hands of all,” DeMarchi said.

“There are layers to this that we are still honing in on. Again, this is a pandemic. It is uncharted territory,” Roman Alvarez said.

It’s called lesson planning on the fly and there’s no previous syllabus to draw from for administrators.

 

Header:  Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

Superintendent Walker Doubts JC Schools Will Reopen Before November

/in , , , /by

At the Jersey City School Board meeting this past Thursday evening, Superintendent Walker cast doubt that Jersey City’s schools would reopen before November.

“My concerns are that if we are out in September, there is a good chance we will be out in October as well,” the superintendent said. He added that if they do decide in September that the schools will reopen, it will still take weeks to put things in place:

“There is a good chance with us not going back in September it probably means we will not go back until November, if we go back. If we do not go back in November, we could be out till January. Our position is to err on the side of caution when it comes to the safety and welfare of our children.”

Superintendent Walker also spoke about scheduling and other matters.

There will be a “hybrid schedule for staff and possible furlough for others,” he noted, and class schedules would be posted on the district’s website. Teachers will take attendance at the start of each class and, as requested by parents, all schools will have “a nurse and an assistant.” The superintendent also reported that terminal pay for retirees had been approved by the board and would be released.

The meeting also featured remarks by Victor Pennetta, whose company, Pennetta Industrial Automation, has been brought in by the district to address concerns over ventilation in the schools.  Pennetta said that the board had “kept up with code” over bring fresh air into classrooms and other spaces in the schools including the older buildings over the years. He noted that each classroom has ventilation equipment that brings in the legally requisite amount of fresh air and has an exhaust system that pulls the inside air out.

“We are constantly bringing in fresh air, and we are  constantly purging classrooms,” Pannetta said. “The air goes through a filtering system before being distributed. When reducing students in the space, the ventilation will be much better, and there will be additional ventilation and exhaust. They have been going through the buddings with Facilities [the Facilities Department] making sure systems are up to snuff, and so far everything has been pretty good.”

Finally, the meeting featured discussion about when the school board should meet next. Board member Mussab Ali asked whether the next meeting, which is slated for September 24, should be moved up to give parents more notice should the district decide to reopen schools in October. Given the length of time needed to prepare for reopening and the fact that it is already late August, Superintendent said that the next meeting could indeed remain September 24.

The next virtual Jersey City School Board meeting will be held Thursday, September 24, at 6 p.m.

For past coverage of Jersey City School Board meetings, please click here.

 

 

 

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

‘This Pandemic Has Taken Everything from Us’ — Student Rep’s Plea to State Board

/in , , /by

Incoming senior at second state Board of Education meeting urges help for fellow students

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

The student representative to the State Board of Education typically gets a few words at the beginning of the monthly meetings, often focusing on a specific issue of interest.

But the start of the board’s virtual meeting yesterday offered a chance for Sabrina Capoli, the newest student member and an incoming senior at Seneca High School in Tabernacle, to touch on a topic on everyone’s mind: reopening schools in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And she didn’t mince words.

Capoli, also president of her high school’s senior class, spoke of the sacrifices her generation has made over the past six months and the challenges ahead. With the help of the state’s student council association, she conducted her own survey of more than 1,000 middle and high school students across New Jersey — not exactly scientific polling but including some good advice and insights for the adults. And she talked about the mental-health toll on students that everyone will need to pay attention to as schools reopen both in buildings and remotely.

The following is a lightly edited version of her full statement:

“Thank you, Madame President and good morning, everyone.

“The New Jersey Department of Education has been committed to promoting social and emotional learning in schools in the past, but I believe that I speak on behalf of every student in New Jersey when I stress that this commitment is more important now than ever before. This pandemic has taken everything from us. For many of us, this virus has stolen precious moments from our hands that we will never get back.

‘Hard to recover’

“Teachers, staff and administrators, I call upon you to recognize that you may be able to make up for lost time in future years, but we, the students, will not. Proms, musicals, athletic seasons, graduations — gone. This will be hard to recover from in the coming school year. It is difficult to look at this year with an open mind, or heart for that matter.

“For this reason, students will need to ease back into their normal routine, while staff ensures that they are not overwhelmed with the amount of schoolwork. Along with that, many surveyed students requested academic breaks throughout the day to help reduce stress. This could go hand in hand with another type of break: mask breaks. Implementing a designated time where students can be outside without a mask may reduce the chance of those students removing it during the school day, while promoting responsible decision-making.

“Other aspects of responsible decision-making will include practicing good hygiene and social distancing. Posting song lyrics on bathroom walls that take 30 seconds to sing can help students wash their hands effectively, and purchasing decals placed six feet apart for the hallways may help encourage social distancing.

“When we return to school in the fall, this may be the first time some students will have interacted with their peers in almost six months. This separation most likely has stunted the growth students have made in important aspects of social-emotional learning, such as “social skills” and “pro-social behaviors.” In a survey I conducted that reached almost every county in New Jersey, around 79% of students reacted negatively to their online learning experience. Of that 79%, 91% of those students blamed their poor experience on lack of socialization.

“To ensure that students are getting their social “fill,” classroom or small group discussions could be prioritized in class, and even used as a learning tool, similar to a Socratic seminar or a class debate. This collaboration will also help students later in life when they enter the workforce.

‘Helping remote-only students stay connected’

“Sadly, some students, for varying reasons, may not be able to return to in-person education for the 2020-2021 school year. These students must not be forgotten. Live Zoom calls, or daily messages from staff, help foster an inclusive learning atmosphere which will help promote a sense of self-confidence and a feeling of significance for these to completely remote students.

“Other helpful resources can include guidance counselor sessions, therapy dog visits (which we have at my school and are awesome) and general awareness encouraged by staff, in terms of mental health and the available resources.

“In order to sustain the mental, social and emotional health of the young people of New Jersey, staff members — the people we rely on for guidance — will need to be proactive. A student’s mental health dictates every action they make, from the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep.

“The six-foot divide between us will not divide the students of New Jersey. The bonds we make in school are too strong to let spatial distance separate our hearts. This coming school year will look very different from any other, but I am excited to see where it may take us, students, staff and New Jerseyans alike.

“Thank you.”

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

Schools Go 100 Percent Virtual In September

/in , , , /by

On Thursday, the Jersey City School Board unanimously approved Superintendent Franklin Walker’s five-phase plan to re-open schools in September with teachers teaching remote, virtual classes in phase one.

Effective Monday, August 17, all full-time (12-month) employees including custodians, office staff, and security personnel will report to work in person on a regular five-day schedule to begin cleaning the Jersey City Board of Education’s 45 buildings in preparation for the school year.

Teachers will report back to the classroom on Tuesday, September 8, and will begin teaching virtual classes from their classrooms to all students scheduled to report on Thursday, September 10. During that month, Superintendent Walker, the school board, and teachers will assess the safety of in-person classes with available scientific data. Until then, virtual classes will be the norm until it is safe for children to be back in the classroom.

“We all have an obligation to prepare to educate our children,” Superintendent Walker said.    “I want to make sure we have those dates clear as we continue to deal with the challenges that have been created by this pandemic.”

Superintendent Walker and the Jersey City Board of Education seem to be in line with much of the rest of the country where, according to a study published Tuesday by Burbio on CNBC.com, half of all elementary and high school students in the U.S. will be taught virtually only this fall. The study found that 52 percent will go to school virtually and 25 percent will attend every day. The remaining 19 percent will have some form of hybrid schooling, combining online and in-person learning. (Four percent of districts remain undecided.)

“Over the last few weeks we have seen a resurgence with the pandemic across the United States, especially in states which rushed to open after the initial shutdown in March and April without a clear reopening plan,” Superintendent Walker said. “We are seeing daily positive cases averaging 750,000 across America with 15,000 deaths daily. As of today, we have close to 5 million Covid-19 cases in America with 150,000 souls lost. Schools have reopened per their regular reopening calendar in some of the southern states like Georgia, and we are receiving very troubling news of dangerous spikes in cases in school among children and employees.”

To make his point, Superintendent Walker offered examples from the U.S. and abroad. Florida reported that 35 percent of children tested were positive. Israel, “which did a great job in the first phase of containment” saw its positive cases spiral out of control after schools reopened. Superintendent Walker said. “New Jersey has done a great job in the containment and a great job in the reopening of New Jersey, that is until recently,” Mr. Walker continued.

On Tuesday, according to CBS.com, more than 400 teachers in Elizabeth refused to teach in-person classes because of health concerns. In a recent response to the spikes in coronavirus infection, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy revised the June 26 guidelines presented in the New Jersey Board of Education’s “Restart and Recovery Plan: The Road Back” to reopen schools and said he will announce plans to facilitate remote learning as an option.

“We have seen our cases flatline or plateau, but unfortunately in recent days the governor has alerted us that our rate of transmission has spiked, nearing the 1.5 level,” Superintendent Walker said. “We have seen spikes in cases prompting the governor to roll back some of the reopening plans. In light of all these recent developments across the nation and what we’re seeing internationally, in addition to continued restrictions on indoor assembly in New Jersey, I cannot in good faith ask our employees and children to return to a full in-person schedule after Labor Day.”

Instead, Superintendent Walker’s  reopening plan is a five-phase timeline that begins with 100 percent virtual learning in phase one and ends with all 30,000 Jersey City public school children back in the classroom in phase five. The Board of Education has undertaken multiple surveys with teachers and parents, Superintendent Walker said, and it is clear “a majority of our parents prefer to start the year with virtual learning, which is what we’ll do”.

In a recent parent survey, 9,700 responded with 52.8 percent indicating they would not send their children back for in-person instruction and 42 percent saying they would. An overwhelming 76 percent of parents said they would not allow their child to ride a bus.

In the public comments part of the meeting, more than 40 parents called in to speak directly to the board, mostly in support of phase one’s remote learning.

Parent Tiffany Kane said she was all set to urge the board to remain in phase one and was pleased that the board was in full support of the measure.

“I do appreciate the board’s sentiment to keep us home as well,” Kane said. “I believe it is the safest place for us to be right now.”

Maria Enriquez, a parent of four in the Jersey City Public Schools and a special education teacher, echoed Ms. Kane’s comments.

“I have four kids in public school,” Enriquez said. “There is so much to be done for school buildings to be safe. My children will go back to school buildings but only when its safe.”

Parents are in a wait-and-see mode, Superintendent Walker said.

“Even though we have precautions in place, there are a lot of anxieties that exist,” Superintendent Walker said. “The plan that we have in place is a productive robust plan that can work. We will all work in tandem to ensure we will open responsibly and transition to in-person learning in phases as the science data supports it. The district understands the magnitude of the ongoing situation and will undertake efforts to support our children with proper nutrition during this pandemic phase as we have been doing these past five months. We will also undertake additional steps to see how we can support our children with counseling or any support service that can be delivered remotely.”

The Board of Education plans to ensure all Jersey City public school children have the required electronic devices and internet access for virtual learning during the pandemic.

“The health of our children, teachers, and employees come first,” Superintendent Walker said. “We will navigate and adapt and do everything to ensure a thorough and efficient education for our children and support them with additional services during this very tough time.”

Jersey City Public School’s Reopening Plan for 2020-2021 features five phases:  phase one: fully remote learning; phase two: limited in-person learning for a small group of students; phase three: easing restriction with more students receiving in-person learning; phase four: most students return to in-person learning with some exceptions for remote learning; and phase five: in-person learning for all students with limited safety restrictions.

Teachers will teach from their classrooms, Superintendent Walker said, in order to have the proper resources. They will be socially distanced and every precaution will be provided to ensure their safety. Surveying teachers, 86 percent said they would return to work; 14 percent said they would not return based on health conditions.

“We don’t know at this point in time when we will be able to implement in a safe and secure way phase two,” Superintendent Walker said. “Phase two is based on the hybrid model, in-person instruction and remote, and a group that will be all virtual. We open in phase one and reassess after the first month and make a determination after the first month.”

Trustee Marilyn Roman said: “This is a good plan, the kind of plan the state wants to see.”

The next virtual school board meeting will be held Thursday, Aug. 27, at 6 p.m.

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

New COVID-19 Front Line? Educators, Health Experts Say It Will Be Schools

/in , , /by

New Jersey lacks adequate guidance for reopening schools in the fall, say those charged with making it happen

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By Lilo H. Stainton

While families, policy experts and public officials nationwide wrestle with the pros and cons of reopening schools during the pandemic, education and health leaders in New Jersey seem to agree that districts here lack the regulatory guidance and critical resources to safely restart in-person lessons next month.

The state Assembly Education Committee took testimony Monday from school nurses and public health officials who said districts need help developing testing protocols, ensuring contact tracing programs are in place, and securing sufficient personal protective equipment, or PPE, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

By way of example, one expert said, medical supply distributors don’t recognize schools as health care facilities, making it hard for districts to create the stockpile they need to conduct regular testing or protect nurses who encounter sick students.

Related content: NJ’s Powerful Teachers Union Says Remote Learning This Fall

“We have to acknowledge, the front line of this pandemic is now moving to the schools,” said Dorian Vicente, a middle-school nurse in Morris County and president of the New Jersey State School Nurses Association. “There are still serious concerns to the feasibility of reopening safely and controlling the spread of COVID-19 in schools and school communities.”

At the same time, though, special-education and child-welfare experts warned that remote education — hastily arranged when schools were closed in March — is not effective for some children with disabilities, and those with more significant needs are likely to suffer the most.

Online learning also forces too much responsibility on parents, they said, and exacerbates educational gaps between poor and wealthy children.

“Remote is just not for all learners,” said Teresa Taylor, director of special education in Jackson.

District-by-district planning

New Jersey’s current plan calls for the state’s nearly 600 school districts to reopen on schedule in early September, with safety modifications in place based on pandemic response plans that must be approved in advance. Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden), the committee chair, said 400 districts have submitted plans for review and many embrace hybrid models that call for groups of students to alternate between in-person and remote learning. Parents also have the option of opting for online education only for their own children.

Lampitt said the committee aimed to ensure that, whatever route they chose, districts plan appropriately.

The panel also advanced three related bills. One would create additional spending flexibility for COVID-related school expenses. Another would enable the state to purchase PPE and other safety materials on behalf of districts. And the third urges the federal government to provide more funding for schools to address the pandemic.

“There’s grave concern,” Lampitt said, describing school-related outbreaks in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee “We’ve got real examples where schools have opened and they thought they had dotted their I’s and crossed their T’s. But if there’s anything we can learn from them, (it’s that) there is more that we can do.”

“The bottom line is we need to make sure our schools are safe for our children to return,” Lampitt added. “And we have only a short window of time to get this right.”

Her colleague on the education committee, Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-Essex), has introduced a measure that would delay in-person school until the end of October. And a growing chorus of teachers unions and education officials are urging Gov. Phil Murphy to opt for remote-learning only for the rest of 2020.

More than 185,000 New Jerseyans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since March, including more than 14,000 who have been confirmed to have died as a result.

‘Unusual’ school year

Murphy notes the state’s goals are to protect the health and safety of students, teachers and staff, and to pursue “the best educational outcomes possible,” while acknowledging that in-person learning “dwarfs” what children can learn online. He has also pledged to continue to listen to all sides as the planning process continues.

“Let’s all accept this is not going to be a normal year,” Murphy said in late July. “This is going to be unusual no matter how we slice it.”

Another critical feature of the state’s plan is flexibility, Murphy has said, which he said will enable districts to create more equitable options for students and staff. The state Department of Education has issued a 104-page reopening plan that outlines minimal standards and references expert guidance from other state and federal agencies, but leaves many decisions up to the individual districts. That was followed at the end of last week by an FAQ document with more than two dozen questions and a checklist for districts to follow as they proceed with reopening.

But stakeholders testifying Monday suggested these documents were not sufficient. Vicente, with the school nurses association, said that in addition to PPE supplies, districts need access to infection control expertise, localized data on coronavirus transmission, and assistance with contact tracing, which the state plan calls for them to do in conjunction with local health departments. And they need better guidance from state overseers, she and others stressed.

“Frankly, during this past spring, schools and local health departments were essentially forced to make decisions in a vacuum without any set guidance from our state [education] department. No one wishes to be in that position in September,” said Megan Avallon, president of the New Jersey Association of County and City Health Officials, and director of the Westfield Regional Health Department. “Unfortunately the local public health infrastructure is underfunded and under-resourced,” she added, which exacerbates the challenges.

Eileen Gaven, a school nurse in Middletown, said her community offered an example of how schools compound the spread of the novel virus. A massive house party in the Monmouth County community led to 68 positive COVID-19 tests results, she said, and contacts with those teens and young adults  have caused her district to face a “continuous cycles” of staff and student quarantines in pre-season fall sports programs and in-person, summer classes for 175 students with disabilities.

“It doesn’t matter where the outbreak started in Middletown, our schools have felt the ripple effect,” Gaven said. “Imagine what will happen in three weeks when we go from 175 (students) in our district (facilities) to 10,000,” she asked.

Some needs unmet with remote learning

Advocates for students with disabilities said that while protecting public health is essential, online learning does not allow the districts to fully meet all needs for some students with disabilities. Social and behavioral issues are hard to address remotely, said Taylor from Jackson, and some students are developing new needs after being isolated for so long.

Others raised concerns about the impact of remote learning on working parents.

Barbara Gantwerk with the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association was among those who urged the state to consider giving in-person education priority to certain students with disabilities, when classrooms are safe. But she said schools need better direction from the state on how to provide services for these children, especially those that require help with feeding tubes, catheters or other medical devices, and they need sufficient staff to make in-person learning safe.

“To me, this is not an issue that should be done school-by-school. This is an issue we should have (statewide) health protocols,” she said.

The DOE did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the need for additional direction. A spokesperson for the Department of Health said that agency is working on its own guidance document for schools in conjunction with the education department.

 

Header: Photo by Maximilian Scheffler on Unsplash

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

education apple

New Jersey Schools Reopen: Pressure Mounts for Delayed Start

/in , , /by

Top administrator association makes public plea to start the year with virtual-only instruction

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

A month out from Labor Day, pressure is mounting for a remote-only opening for New Jersey public schools.

The state’s principals and supervisors association on Thursday made a public appeal, including an NJ Spotlight op-ed, for Gov. Phil Murphy to call for virtual-only instruction to start the year.

“Beginning the school year with statewide remote learning recognizes the critical fact that we simply cannot safeguard our students, our staff and our communities from this highly contagious and lethal virus without the necessary tools to do so,” wrote Patricia Wright, executive director of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.

Charters seek delayed opening

Meanwhile, several of the first charter schools that would reopen — some as soon as this month — have asked for leeway from the state Department of Education as well. One large charter network is looking to push its start date to October.

The KIPP-NJ schools, the state’s largest charter network with 15 schools in Newark and Camden, has asked that it be permitted to stay in virtual-learning mode until Oct. 5.

“As the summer has progressed and more research on the transmission of COVID-19 among children has come in, we think the risks are still too high to go back into in-person instruction right now,” said Ryan Hill, KIPP-NJ’s CEO, in an email. “We have learned a lot about remote instruction since the spring and believe we can make it work well for our students.”

And the state’s dominant teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association, doesn’t sound too far behind.

“What you are seeing is a continued growth of concerns as we get close to the start of school,” said Steve Baker, the NJEA’s communications director. “There is a growing concern about how schools could open safely in September.”

When asked whether it would formally call for a remote-only opening, like the principals association, Baker said the NJEA’s leadership preferred that local unions lead the effort.

“At this point, we have not made any call,” Baker said.

A close ally of the NJEA, Murphy so far has not backed off much from his call for a reopening of schools that would include at least some form of in-person instruction. The state is now reviewing plans from school districts, the vast majority of them a hybrid mix of in-person and virtual learning.

In her op-ed, Wright, of the principals and supervisors association, said she understands and agrees with the importance of in-person instruction, but she said the reality is far murkier.

“We understand that remote learning raises its own list of challenging issues from the digital divide, to the opportunity losses in learning experienced by many students, to child care concerns of parents needing to return to work,” Wright wrote.

“However, even if schools open with a hybrid plan, we still would not have adequately addressed these issues,” she wrote. “If students or staff become ill and schools have to return to fully virtual instruction, these issues remain.”

Giving districts time to adjust

Wright said she hoped the governor would move sooner than later, giving districts the time to adjust.

“By making the decision to return to school remotely now, we can turn our collective creativity and resources to addressing those issues together” she wrote. “The clock is literally ticking and quite loudly.”

The clock is ticking especially fast for charter schools, which have traditionally opened sooner than public school districts. An estimated 30 charter schools planned to open before Labor Day, nearly a dozen of them in August.

The head of the state’s charter school association said many of them are asking the state for at least some flexibility to open with in-person instruction later in September.

“Schools don’t have their PPE (personal protection equipment) in, there are health concerns from parents and teachers,” said Harold Lee, president of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association. “Schools just aren’t ready.”

 

Header: Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

NJ School Reopening: What’s Next as Plans Are Made to Open Classrooms

/in , , /by

Lawmakers, unions and activists are weighing in as schools work out details

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

The back-and-forth continued this week over what New Jersey schools will look like in a month, with districts up against an August deadline to devise their reopening plans and others not shy about weighing in on what those plans should look like.

The Legislature is among the first to step up the pressure, and several Assembly members filed a bill this week that would push back in-school instruction for most students until at least Oct. 31.

“I have been hearing for some time the concern that we are not going to be ready for after Labor Day,” said state Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-Essex) on Thursday in an interview with NJTV News.

“If we lose one child or one staff member because we opened too soon, then we’ll never be able to forgive ourselves,” said Jasey, herself a registered nurse.

The Senate’s influential education chair, state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), on Thursday said the Assembly bill has “some merit” but also pressed the Murphy administration to better address concerns about reopening without the need of legislation.

Safety and equity

Meanwhile, the state’s dominant teachers union isn’t letting up on its insistence that schools be safe for children and adults. While not yet threatening job actions demanding that schools open remotely, neither is the union ruling it out yet either.

And in a state where the courts often play a big part in education policy, the Education Law Center is also planting its stake, saying that, whatever decisions are made about reopening, New Jersey must fulfill its responsibilities to its poorest students.

David Sciarra, the center’s executive director, on Thursday said the state’s failure so far to show it had addressed the technology gap was troubling, especially given the inevitability of at least some remote learning.

The state has said that as many as 230,000 students may be without the needed technology to avail of remote learning. Gov. Phil Murphy announced a plan to fund up to $54 million in added technology, but his administration has yet to provide the latest data on where the money would go and where the greatest needs lie.

‘State officials continue to pass the buck’

“The state has yet to assume full responsibility for addressing the digital divide and other impacts of COVID-19,” Sciarra said in an email. “Instead, state officials continue to pass the buck to local districts without recognizing the wide variation in student need across the state, especially in our high poverty, racially isolated districts.”

“These ‘at-risk’ communities need more than guidance,” he wrote. “They need substantive action.”

Ruiz said the frustration was mounting. “A lot of questions are unanswered, and we’re now six weeks away from the opening of schools,” she said. “Six weeks out, I have extreme concerns.”

So far, Murphy has remained insistent that there be at least some in-school instruction from the start, and school districts are mostly toeing the line, following the directive to come up with a variety of models that mix in-school education with remote learning.

In a not-so-tacit admission that last spring’s all-remote instruction left thousands of children behind, Murphy has emphasized that in-school instruction — at least in some form — is required to ensure that all students get the necessary attention and education.

But the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, is not hiding its insistence that not all schools will be ready to protect both children and staff if they reopen.

Signals from the NJEA

A spokesman for the union on Thursday would not specify if its members would take more organized actions but acknowledged the possibility. Nationally, the country’s second largest union, the American Federation of Teachers, said it would support teachers striking in defense of their own safety. The NJEA is part of the National Education Association, not the AFT.

“What we are doing is advocating every day that we have to keep the safety of children and educators primary,” said Steve Baker, NJEA communications director.

“There are major challenges to that, and it is not clear at this point that districts will be able to rise to those challenges,” he said.

Jasey on Thursday said she was still gauging support for her bill, which would set an Oct. 31 target for reopening in-school instruction, but would also allow for that to be shortened or extended in case conditions change. The bill would allow for students with disabilities to have in-school instruction and services in the meantime, if needed.

“I have received a lot of calls from fellow legislators and educators who are in support of this,” she said of the bill’s prospects. “And believe it or not, from parents as well. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy.”

“Opening schools is a huge task, and the concern we have about health is only the first one,” Jasey said. “The second is about the quality of the education we are able to provide. The idea behind the bill is ‘let’s pause.’”

 

Header: Photo by Akshay Chauhan on Unsplash

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

Fine Print: Virtual Back-to-School Checklist

/in , , /by

State guidance defines what’s needed for families to stay all-virtual when school starts in September

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

Title: “Clarifying Expectations Regarding Fulltime Remote Learning Options for Families in 2020-2021”

Author: New Jersey Department of Education, sent to all public school districts and charter schools

Date: Friday, July 24, 2020

What is it: The new guidance for the all-remote option was added last week to the state’s existing guidance for what schools needed to do to physically reopen schools in September. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues – even at relative stable levels in New Jersey – schools are facing pressures from families who want to be allowed to stay at home with remote instruction if they so choose. This three-page supplement is the state’s rules for that option, including requirements for specific online learning plans, request procedures and communications.

What it means: The guidance was released several days after Gov. Phil Murphy announced that families would be allowed to stay all-remote if they so choose. He had initially said that schools would need to provide at least some in-school instruction for all students. This latest guidance was inevitable. But it also speaks to the near-certainty of still more guidance and changes coming in what has been a fluid situation, to say the least.

Flexibility key: Murphy said on Friday in releasing the guidance that districts will be afforded wide flexibility in how they want to address each need.

Quote: “We have heard from numerous parents and families who have asked for this, and we have heard them loud and clear. Our top priority is keeping students, their families and educators safe. And to do that, flexibility, local decision making and empowering parents and educators are all critical,” Murphy said.

On the ground: As many as a third of New Jersey families have said in polling and surveys that they may opt to stay home as schools reopen. About 18% of surveyed parents in the Freehold Regional district said so even before this new guidance came out. Superintendent Charles Sampson said now districts can plan for it. “I’m sure every district at this time is working with their families on how they will do this. That is a good chunk of families.”

Six key pillars:

  • “Unconditional eligibility” for full-time remote learning: Any family can opt for all-remote instruction, regardless of medical condition.
  • Procedures for submitting requests: Minimum requirements will be in place for submitting a request to a district, including the span of time being requested and plan for transition to full in-person.
  • Scope and expectations of remote schooling: The guidance says “any student participating in the board’s fulltime remote learning option must be afforded the same quality and scope of instruction and other educational services as any other student otherwise participating in district programs.” That includes the length and time of instruction, equal access to materials, and a multitude of other schooling components.
  • Procedures to transition to in-school: A minimum amount of time for remote instruction will need to be defined by the family and district before being able to transition back to in-school. The process also includes specific services that would transition back.
  • Data collection: Districts will be required to collect data on their remote instruction option, who is using it and how it is implemented. The required categories include the number of students participating in full-time remote learning by each of the following subgroups: economically disadvantaged; major racial and ethnic groups; students with disabilities; and English learners.
  • Communication: The districts will be required to develop full communications programs that will inform all families of their options, including in all home languages of the district. The communications must include the full scope and expectations of the instruction, procedures for making requests and transition planning.

What’s not answered: Basically leaving it up to districts, the new guidance does not detail next steps in how districts will develop remote programs for students who request it. The districts’ plans are due to the state and then the public within four weeks of the opening of school, basically early August.

Teachers, too: The latest guidance does not speak at all to teachers and other employees who may seek a remote option as well. The administration has said that would be left to local personnel decisions and collective bargaining.

Quote: “The health and safety of our educational communities is paramount, and with this guidance we are providing districts with even greater flexibility to ensure that they can meet this need,” Murphy said. “We are not mandating any one specific way to move forward.”

Digital divide: District-by-district counts remain elusive, but state officials continue to say that as many as 230,000 students statewide – a sixth of the state’s total enrollment – do not have the necessary tools to take advantage of remote instruction. Murphy last week announced an additional $50 million in federal relief, but that is half of the need by officials own count.

What’s next: The Legislature has continued to press for a host of issues related to schools reopening, with some leading lawmakers calling for the start of school to be pushed back so districts can better prepare. Short of that, the districts’ plans will be coming out over the next two weeks, previewing what the fall will look like.

 

Header: Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

Murphy Offers ‘Virtual-Only’ Option for 2020 School Reopening

/in , , /by

Governor yields to pressure from all sides, steps back from requirement that students, teachers must attend in-class instruction some of the time

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

New Jersey’s attempts to come up with a plan for reopening its schools in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a frenetic whirlwind.

And we’re still six weeks out.

Facing pressures from all sides, Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday created a bit of a stir and said families that want to sit out the physical reopening of schools now will have a choice to stay with virtual instruction after all.

He didn’t say much beyond that, saying state guidelines were forthcoming and leaving open many questions about exactly how his announcement would work.

“The details will be coming out later this week, but we wanted everyone to know now that we will allow for this step,” Murphy said at his daily media briefing.

The latest announcement from Murphy of a “virtual-only” option for families came suddenly, as concerns were mounting about how to address those who may not feel comfortable going back to school, even with all the precautions of screening, masks and distancing.

No time for full reopening?

Murphy’s statement came after the head of the state’s powerful teachers union last week said she doubted there is enough time for a full reopening anyway. And Murphy himself  said an initiative to close the digital divide has already left hundreds of thousands of students behind.

The swirl of developments — all in late July — has left superintendents and others with their heads spinning as they prepare their districts’ reopening plans, which are  due in the next two weeks.

At least that’s the current timetable.

Brick-and-mortar instruction

Murphy had said that all districts would have to have at least some in-person instruction, leaving to districts how to design that but promoting there would likely be at least a couple of days a week of remote or virtual instruction.

But the questions grew about whether that meant all families had to participate in in-school instruction. The state has been unclear in its guidance so far, with some hearing that families may even have to withdraw their children from the school system altogether.

The state’s 104-page package for reopening schools currently does not include any provisions for parent choice, only a handful in the country without such provisions, according to one study by Johns Hopkins University.

Reacting to the news on Monday, some superintendents and other school advocates welcomed the opportunity for as much flexibility as possible. A letter to the governor signed by scores of superintendents had asked for a remote option and clarification from the state.

“We were heartened that Gov. Murphy was responsive to the voices in the field and has moved forward on clarifying a remote option for parents which will assist all of us in our planning for reopening,” said David Aderhold, the West Windsor-Plainsboro superintendent who has been outspoken in calling for better guidance from the state.

“There was great advocacy for this option,” Aderhold said in an email. “We appreciate the willingness of the governor and his administration to listen and consider issues faced by school districts across the state.”

No details yet

The department said guidance would be coming by the end of the week, although it provided no details at all about what would be covered.

A host of questions arise: Will those insisting on virtual instruction be put at any disadvantage or a possible advantage? Could it be a fluid decision to be made by parents or for a set time? What about busing; is that a separate choice?

“Districts and parents need reliable assurances from the Department of Education that it counts for enrollment and attendance purposes, and that we’re not just relying on some informal nonbinding guidance,” said school board attorney David Rubin, whose Metuchen law firm represents more than 50 districts.

“Will students whose families have opted to keep them home for the school day be permitted to take part in on-campus extracurricular activities or sports, perhaps displacing students who’ve committed to be fully present?”

Murphy on Monday would not take further questions on the issue, but acknowledged there will be many to come.

“There are a lot of moving parts to this,” Murphy said. “We want to get it right. We want to do it responsibly.”

 

Header: Photo by Allie on Unsplash

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

Murphy to Use $54M in Federal Aid to Help Bridge Digital Divide in State’s Schools

/in , , /by

But Department of Education says the full cost of equipping schools, families for remote instruction is likely close to $115 million

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

Hosted at an elementary school in one of the poorest cities in the state, Gov. Phil Murphy last week presented a plan that he said would help close the gaping digital divide for New Jersey public education in this COVID-19 pandemic world.

His plans only confirm just how gaping a divide it is.

Murphy traveled on Thursday to Irvington’s Madison Avenue School to announce a plan to target $54 million in existing federal aid to help buy the thousands of Chromebooks, laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots and other tools for schools and families in need if remote instruction is again to be a big part of the mix in the fall, as expected.

He said 4,800 students in Irvington alone — more than half the district — were left out of full use of remote instruction in the spring due to technology needs and in peril for the same for the fall.

“It is an untenable divide,” Murphy said Thursday. “It is not a cost we can ignore, we must address this now.”

It was an inevitable acknowledgment from the governor that whatever schools look like in September, computers for remote instruction have become the new paper-and-pencil of basic school supplies — and tens of thousands of New Jersey kids are without them.

DOE has more work to do

But despite the promise to fully close the gap, this looks to be only the start. The state Department of Education on Friday said that the full need is likely close to $115 million, and Murphy himself said as many as 230,000 students — a fifth of the state’s public school enrollment — were without the needed devices and connectivity this spring.

That’s even more than previously reported, when officials in May said about 90,000 families were without connectivity and 130,000 without adequate devices. But the state’s numbers have also always been loosely reported, and the department said it would release updated ones this week.

The DOE on Friday maintained that districts have already started to close the gap, and the additional public investment — along with an undefined public pledge drive for corporate philanthropic support — will go a long way toward closing it entirely. It cited a rough estimate of about $500 per student.

The plan would include three main components:

  • $10 million in existing federal funds to districts to purchase and provide the technology;
  • $44 million in other federal emergency funds provided by the state; and an
  • unidentified sum in business and other philanthropic funds.

The federal money that districts could receive anyway would be available in a grant process through the state education department. In what is an unusual outreach, Murphy’s plan for philanthropic support would have the state’s Economic Development Authority open a formal process for private funds to be donated from organizations and corporations.

“Any help we can get from our business community will allow us to stretch our state funds even further and offset other costs face in reopening,” Murphy said.

The details were posted last week, and proposals are due by July 31.

Sweeney, Ruiz back governor

Standing with Murphy on Thursday were Senate President Steve Sweeney and state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, inarguably the two most influential legislators when it comes to education policy. Sweeney’s attendance especially didn’t go unnoticed, given his often-contentious relationship with Murphy.

“These are tough times and there is not a lot of money, but it’s critically important that the governor will insure that all children – that’s a big word, all children – are going to be ensure the opportunity for an education,” Sweeney said.

“How many Einsteins have we lost, how brilliant kids did we lose because they did not get a good education,” he said.

Ruiz has been among the state’s most outspoken when it comes to the digital divide, and she said this investment was a start.

“The pandemic uncovered an ugly truth that many of us always knew,” Ruiz said. “It is not something that happened over the last five months, it is something that we have been screaming about for decades.

“We do not know what September will bring, but we know that many districts will be going hybrid [in-person and virtual], so let’s equip every child with that they need,” she said.

When contacted afterward, Ruiz said more investment will be necessary, citing the needs and training for teachers, as well.

“This was the easiest part to do,” she said in an interview with NJ Spotlight. “It’s just the beginning.”

 

Header: Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Dear reader: For the cost of a "tall" drip coffee at Starbucks, you can support local journalism! Please consider signing up for a recurring monthly payment of $2.99. Thank you!

Sign up and support Jersey City Times!

Events

Nothing Found

Sorry, no posts matched your criteria