Yesterday, we notified all in-person Kindergarten through Second grade parents that their children will be returning to five days of in-person instruction effective Monday, March 15, 2021. These students are now in Cohort C. Parents of Cohort D students will continue to remain in the full-time remote learning platform.
Additionally, effective March 17, Wednesdays will now be in-person instructional days for students, beginning with Cohort A, then rotating the following week with Cohort B as per the School Calendar. Cohort D students at all grade levels will continue to receive live (synchronous) instruction remotely daily.
As we move forward with Phase IV of the district's plans, I want to inform you of a number of steps I have taken to advocate for more in-person schooling for our students. However, at the same time we recognize the need for a Cohort D full-time remote option for our families.
Last week, I communicated with Senator Troy Singleton’s office. Senator Singleton recently sent a letter voicing our concerns to the Governor, asking him for support and updated metrics from our state and health officials. Unless the conditions and requirements for providing in-person schooling during this health emergency are re-examined, our plans will only take us so far.
On Monday, March 1, I and other Superintendents met with the Office of Outreach from Governor Murphy’s office. We had an opportunity to provide feedback on what will help us open our schools more fully with the goal of returning to normal. We believe we were heard, as most recently noted the Governor prioritized educators for vaccinations.
We need updated health and safety mitigation metrics that will allow us to move forward based on local conditions and risk levels as we rely upon them to operate our schools safely.
I want you to know that we are doing all that we can to get our students back to school full time safely. That is our goal. All the steps we are taking lead us in that direction.
We have created a Frequently Asked Questions document for your reference to help clear up any confusion and answer questions. This document will be updated weekly, so please take an opportunity to read and review the document.