BOOT UP, KIDS
Trenton School District will open the school year with virtual learning, planning to reassess as year progresses »
TRENTON » Not wanting increase the risk of students and staff contracting the coronavirus, the capital city school district plans to start off the school year with exclusively remote learning.
During a special virtual meeting Thursday, the Board of Education adopted interim Superintendent Ronald Lee’s reopening plan calling for “100 percent” remote learning when schools re-open in September.
As many as 80 percent of district parents surveyed were uncomfortable sending their children back to Trenton schools as health experts warn about the likelihood of a second virus wave sometime in the fall, the superintendent said.
Lee, who has resigned as school chief effective in October, felt the district could still provide a “rich education virtually.”
“I’m not willing to gamble people’s health,” said Lee, who is responsible for overseeing nearly 12,000 students and 1,100 teachers in the district. “We felt as leadership we need to be courageous in decisions we make.”
Lee’s re-opening plan, which must be approved by the state Department of Education, includes phased options for hybrid and inperson learning.
The DOE did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.
Talithea Duncan, the president of the Trenton Education Association, said she was pleased that the district heeded educators’ warnings by coming to the “realization that it was not safe to open schools.”
The move comes as Gov. Phil Murphy is being pressured to allow New Jersey schools to keep all students home for remote learning.
In-person instruction was discontinued in March as New Jersey attempted to slow the spread of the deadly virus, which has claimed the lives of nearly 14,000 residents statewide.
More than 3,900 Trentonians have been infected and at least 76 died from the virus, not including fatalities at the city’s four nursing homes, according to the Trenton’s COVID-19 tracker.
Despite the numbers, the Murphy administration and the state Department of Education mandated that all school districts offer some in-person learning for the 2020-21 school year.
Relaxing his stance a bit, Murphy allowed parents to choose to have their children opt out of in-person instruction.
The state’s teachers school union and lawmakers have cautioned against re-opening schools, feeling it jeopardizes the health and safety of students and teachers, especially those with underlying issues who are at higher risk of contracting and having complications from the virus.
Three New Jersey lawmakers planned to introduce legislation that would keep schools closed for the first two months of the year.
In Trenton, Lee said said decisions about switching from remote learning to a hybrid schedule and in-person instruction later in the year will be driven by data showing how New Jersey and the capital city are faring with the coronavirus.
The hybrid option would require students to rotate days between online and in-person instruction, and presents its own challenges due to mandated capacities still in effect under the governor’s executive orders, Lee said.
The district’s plan will be re-evaluated each month, as school officials closely monitor statewide and local rates of infection.
New Jersey’s rate of infection is hovering just above a 1, Trenton’s chief academic officer Alfonso Llano said, meaning that each infected person on average transmits the virus to at least one other person.
For the first time since April 13, Mercer County was returned to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s list of COVID-19 outbreak hotspots.
There’s no surefire way to completely prevent the virus’ spread, but health experts have touted social distancing as an effective mitigation strategy.
Lee said the district witnessed during its outside graduation ceremony at Arm & Hammer Park the difficulty getting students to comply with social distancing mandates.
School officials and advocates said those challenges are amplified for some of the district’s lower-functioning special education students.
Amanda Short, a secondgrade teacher at Mott Elementary, said students are naturally hands on and she would feel callous not comforting a student who may have fallen down and reprimanding others who aid a hurt peer, because of social distancing practices.
“What is that teaching these kids?” she said. “How scared are they going to be?”
Teachers and district administrators learned firsthand about the struggles keeping masks on throughout the school day during mock classes at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, Dunn Middle School and the ninth-grade academy.
And those were only three one-hour sessions,
Lee said.
“We wanted to experience what students would experience. We wanted to experience what teachers would experience wearing a mask and teaching and then trying to teach a group in-person and also trying to teach a group that was at home,” Lee said. “I just don’t think we can have students sit for four five hours with a mask on. I don’t think it’s feasible for adults to wear a mask for six hours straight.”
Several board member and community advocates expressed support for Lee’s plan, saying the global pandemic has forced districts to make accommodations while lessening the impact on instruction quality.
“We know the best place for students to learn is in the classroom, in personbut we know the safest place for them is at home,” board president Addie Daniels-Lane said.
“TPS made the right decision,” said Nicole Whitfield, the executive director of the Special Parent Advocacy Group. “I know students with disabilities are suffering with no inperson instruction, but safety must be first in this situation.”
The district purchased about 1,000 devices to help students who may not have access to a computer or internet, Lee said, and also has high-tech tablets that allow teachers to model chalkboards to make the online experience more interactive.
Beyond that, the superintendent said the district plans for students to have a more structured experience with virtual learning, which wasn’t always the case when the state first switched to remote learning.
Students who were surveyed admitted feeling “lost” without the day-today structure provided by in-person learning, Llano said.
To address that, students will be required to log in at normal start times and follow class schedules as if they were physically present.
Attendance officers will be more vigilant about ensuring students are attending virtual classes, Lee said.