On the day he announced some New Jersey schools will be allowed start the new academic year with no in-person classes because of the lingering coronavirus, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday he wouldn’t rule out having to change plans again by shutting school buildings statewide if cases surge.
“You just can’t take off the table that this thing is gonna rear its head, and we have to be prepared for that, as we were in March,” Murphy said in an interview on “CBS Evening News.”
The governor made similar comments during his latest coronavirus press briefing in Trenton.
“Do we reserve the right if the numbers go south? ... The answer is yes, sadly, we have to,” Murphy said. “The pandemic dictates the terms, not us mere mortals.”
Asked if superintendents should be concerned they’re wasting their time by prepping at least some in-person learning, Murphy insisted “they’re not wasting their time.”
New Jersey schools closed in March and finished the last academic year with three months of all virtual lessons. Murphy announced in June the state was requiring all of New Jersey’s 2,500 public schools to offer at least some in-person classes when the new academic year begins.
But Murphy has shifted plans a few times since then.
Last month, he announced the state would require districts to offer parents the option of choosing all-remote learning for their children. And on Wednesday, he announced that public and private schools that can’t meet the state Department of Education’s reopening guidelines on their first day can ask to start the year with remote learning for all students.
“We still expect and want and will see in-person education,” Murphy told CBS. “However, not all district can meet the safety and health protocols, and the last thing we want to do is open a school or a district irresponsibly.”
“So what we’re saying today is: While that is still the objective, we acknowledge that certain districts cannot get there on Day One,” the governor added. “We will work with them.”
The move comes amid a national debate over whether schools should reopen this fall despite the pandemic, which has claimed nearly 16,000 lives in New Jersey.
Proponents of in-person classes say distance learning is a poor substitute and parents in many two-income households can’t be home with their children because they need to work.
But there has been a growing chorus of parents, educators, local officials and union leaders pressuring Murphy to keep schools closed, saying it’s unsafe to reopen. Some districts say numerous teachers have already said they won’t return out of health concerns.
Leaders of the state’s largest teacher union and groups representing school administrators issued a joint statement Thursday night calling on Murphy and the state Department of Education to have all New Jersey schools open remotely in the fall over health concerns because of the virus.
A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released last month found New Jerseyans are divided on the issue. The survey found 46% of Garden State adults say schools should reopen with protective measures, while 42% say students should continue with remote learning until there is a COVID-19 treatment or vaccine.
On Wednesday, New Jersey reported nine more deaths related to COVID-19 and 484 new cases, while the rate of transmission remained below the key benchmark of 1 for the third straight day. Those numbers are down significantly from the state’s peak in mid-April.
But Murphy has warned the virus is “still out there.”
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
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N.J. could still close schools for in-person classes if COVID-19 cases spike, Gov. Murphy says - NJ.com
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