Township scales back schoolreopening plan

ROBBINSVILLE » The ambitious school-reopening plan has been scaled back.

Robbinsville Public Schools originally planned to offer hybrid learning to all students comfortable with limited in-person instruction beginning Sept. 8, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the district to reconsider its options.

“After much consternation and deliberation,” Superintendent Brian J. Betze said in a letter to parents dated Aug. 26, “the decision has been made for our students in grades 6-12 to go fully remote until Monday, Oct. 12.”

Under the revised plan, Robbinsville students in grades pre-K-5 will attend school under a hybrid schedule beginning Sept. 8, while most students in grades 6-12 will be learning remotely until Monday, Oct. 12.

All students in self-contained classrooms, including those in grades 6-12, will receive in-person instruction beginning next month, according to Betze.

Some parents, of course, are not yet comfortable with in-person learning. As of July 28, about 37% of the families within Robbinsville Public Schools selected remote learning districtwide, according to district officials.

The New Jersey Department of Education forced districts across the Garden State to prepare for hybrid instruction, and Gov. Phil Murphy earlier this summer declared schools “will open for in-person instruction and operations in some capacity” to start the 202021 academic year.

With New Jersey and the United States still facing a public health emergency, Murphy issued Executive Order No. 175 on Aug. 13 giving educators a new option: Any district that is unable to satisfy the health and safety requirements for in-person instruction “may provide full-time remote instruction to all students.”

Many districts have decided to go 100% remote in response to Murphy’s order, although some districts like Robbinsville still intend to reopen with hybrid learning that mixes in-person instruction with virtual learning.

Other districts in Mercer County have taken the following approach:

• Princeton Public Schools is opening remotely this fall. The district will begin the school year with an all-remote opening. Classes will start virtually on Sept. 14.

• Trenton Public Schools will begin its school year Sept. 10 with all students being taught virtually and 100% remotely, according to Ronald C. Lee, Trenton’s interim superintendent of schools. The district plans to provide all-remote learning until conditions exist for the safe pivot to an inperson program.

• Hamilton Township School District tweaked its reopening plan in response to Murphy’s Executive Order No. 175 by swiftly postponing implementation of its A/B/C hybrid instructional model by one month. The Hamilton Board of Education authorized widespread remote learning to take place from Sept. 8 through Oct. 9 and for the district’s hybrid learning model to commence Monday, Oct. 12.

• Hopewell Valley Regional School District is moving ahead with its original plan for all in-person students to return on Sept.

9. Remote learning will still be provided to those who selected this option. The district’s elementary in-person program will move to an A/B day schedule.

• Ewing Public Schools will begin in-person learning for students in kindergarten through second grade on Sept. 9, and students in grades 3-5 will return to in-person learning on Sept. 29. Fisher Middle School is scheduled to begin its in-person hybrid/ blended (A/B Day) schedule with students returning to school on Monday, Oct. 12. Ewing High School is scheduled to begin its inperson hybrid/blended A/B day-schedule with students returning to school on Monday, Oct. 26. Most of the district’s students will be subjected to remote learning when the school year begins next month.

• Lawrence Township Public Schools will reopen Sept. 8 with all-remote learning. In Phase One of the district’s reopening plan, teachers will provide virtual education, meetings, check-ins and conferences with the entire class via Zoom or other tools. The district says it will continuously monitor COVID-19 conditions and reassess its instructional phase every 30 days.

• West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District planned to begin its 2020-21 school year with both in-person hybrid and all-virtual instructional models beginning Sept. 8. About 61% of WW-P students have selected an allvirtual instructional model, while approximately 39% or 3,926 students have requested hybrid instruction. The district says it will continue to assess its readiness and ability to safely resume in-person instruction on Sept. 8.

• East Windsor Regional School District will begin the 2020-21 school year with remote instruction for all students on Wednesday, Sept. 9. In-person instruction for students will begin on Monday, Nov. 9.