Millburn/Short Hill Schools Release Final Reopening Plan
MILLBURN, NJ — Millburn Schools Superintendent Christine Burton released a final school reopening plan on Friday after earlier releasing a preliminary plan.
Parents must state which plan they want for their children by Aug. 5, then confirm by Aug. 14.
School starts for students on Sept. 3.
In Millburn's final plan revealed Friday:
All students will have the option of remote learning, something the state has said all districts must offer.
For K-5, for those choosing in-school learning: students will have a single-session days and no lunch or recess, either in the morning or evening. These will include reading, writing, and math.
Those students will get another 2.5 hours of remote learning each day as well.
For middle school and high school, students will attend school every other day for 5-hour days, and be remote the other days.
See the plan for specifics on coronavirus precautions, special subjects, and more by clicking here.
Can children spread coronavirus?
While most children in the United States have avoided severe symptoms from the virus, they can transmit it to teachers, parents, and others. A large-scale study in South Korea, quoted widely last week in American media outlets from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, suggested that teens spread the virus at the same rate as adults, and more easily than younger children.
The CDC also confirmed a large outbreak at a camp in Georgia in a press conference Friday.
Some local teachers' unions, including in Millburn and the state teachers' union, have said they believe learning should stay remote for now. But working parents, parents of special needs children, and others have argued that they need aspects of on-site learning.
One New Jersey district, Old Bridge, offered in-person learning only four days a week and the rest remote, or all remote. Other districts, like Hoboken, have offered a choice of either full-day instruction in person or full-day remote. Districts like Cranford have offered blended in-school and remote days to lessen the population in the buildings at once. But all must offer full-time remote education as an option.
New Jersey trends
As of Thursday afternoon, the number of cases in New Jersey since early March climbed to 180,970, with 13,934 confirmed deaths. Thursday's number included 261 cases confirmed since the day before, and 19 more confirmed deaths. The governor has warned the day before that New Jersey's coronavirus cases are on the rise again, and he believes that indoor parties have been largely responsible. Read more: Gov. Murphy Warns That NJ's Coronavirus Cases Are Rising Again
But the current daily death rate is down from New Jersey's peak: a high of 460 deaths in 24 hours on April 30, or one person every three minutes.
Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Murphy ordered residents to wear masks. He also has asked for residents to quarantine after coming from 34 states that are seeing spikes.
See the daily increases in each state here. States around the country have had to pull back on their reopenings, including Texas, which is seeing a record number of hospitalizations and deaths.
Gov. Phil Murphy's administration released its broad school reopening guidelines to the districts late last month.
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This article originally appeared on the Millburn-Short Hills Patch
