I have to hand it to the acting Trenton schools chief Ronald Lee and the Trenton Board of Education. This non-elected squad actually listened to the wants and needs of the parents in the district and found a creative – and seemingly legal and foolproof way – around Gov. Phil Murphy’s as-of-now mandate to open schools in September.
Simply put, Murphy’s mandate – which seemingly every school district took to mean “open up for business on Day 1 of the school year” – apparently leaves a little wriggle room. Actually, it leaves enough to wriggle room to keep the schools closed and for a district to go full virtual.
“Districts’ reopening plans must account for resuming in-person instruction in some capacity,” reads the governor’s Road Back guidance.
So every district in Mercer County took that as “we need to open our doors immediately” and have planned accordingly. Some with full day, others with half day, some with A/B schedules, some with A/B/C schedules, some with some mish-mash of the above and more.
But Trenton? Nah, they saw the “must account for” and “in some capacity” and decided to get creative.
The result? Based on the districts’ survey of parents – which found 80% of them uncomfortable with sending their kids to school – Lee and the board developed a plan that starts the year 100% virtual. That’s Phase 1. Phase 2 would be a return to the schools in an A/B schedule fashion, but only if rates of coronavirus infections stay down – or come back down, as all of a sudden New Jersey, and Mercer County in particular, is seeing an uptick in new cases.
Simply put, this is a massive end-around the (seeming) wishes of the governor (and the president) and sets Trenton up as a model for districts that believe keeping children and teachers home is the right move come September. (Fact: I’ve spoken with three New Jersey superintendents. All three don’t think schools should open.)
Of course, this still has to pass muster with the state’s Department of Education. But board president Addie Lane thinks it will.
“At the district level, we believe that our Restart and Reopening plan meets all of the criteria to receive a favorable review from the NJDOE,” Lane told me via email. “We believe our plan addresses the conditions laid out in the Road Back Guidance. The district’s plan is built around Phase 1 and Phase 2. In Phase 1 (September 2020) schools open, providing all remote instruction. In Phase 2 (TBD) all schools offer a hybrid instructional program that offers alternating, in person and remote instruction on an A/B Day schedule. Phase 2, would begin at a future date, after a careful assessment of the direction of the virus and its potential impact on our local community. The district has consulted local health officials, surveyed and involved parents as well as community stakeholders and organizations in the ongoing decision making process.”
Bravo, Lane and Co.
Now listen: I want schools to open. But I’m also a realist, and the realist in me says “take nearly 2 million kids, teachers, and staff and put them all indoors and you’re cooking up a recipe for disaster.”
We flattened the curve, and that’s what we set out to do. But now the curve is slowly inching up, and if we open schools and shoehorn all these people inside of them, I have a very hard time believing we’re not going to spike again. And if we spike, we start getting everything shut down again.
I don’t want that. Neither do you. Which is why schools should probably remain closed come September.
Now there are ways for schools to open – namely, by having class outside. Private schools are doing it, colleges and universities are doing it, no reason why public schools can’t do it. But I haven’t seen one inch of movement on the idea, and I don’t expect to either.
Meanwhile, the NJEA is starting to go on the offensive about the idea of coming back into schools, and I’ve long held the belief Murphy himself thinks it’s a lousy idea and has just been paying lip service to Trump in an effort to keep the federal spigot open for our broke and getting broke-r state.
We all want a return to normalcy. We all want the coronavirus to cease to be an issue. But right now – and in a month from now – neither of those things are going to be a fact. We may be done with the virus, but – and I hate this cliche, but it’s all too true – the virus isn’t done with us. School districts are scrambling to figure out what to do, and Trenton has landed on a solution.
Very – very, very, very – interested to see what the DOE has to say, and assuming Trenton gets the go-ahead, I’d be shocked if other districts didn’t immediately seek to follow in the capital city’s footsteps.
