N.J. schools can’t open without teachers. Will they have enough? - NJ.com

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The requests began flooding Michael Salvatore’s inbox soon after Gov. Phil Murphy spoke.

In just four hours, more than 40 Long Branch Schools employees asked for accommodations to work remotely, responding Wednesday to the governor’s announcement that some districts can begin the year virtually, the superintendent said. The district’s online parent survey saw a similar spike: Hundreds of new responses supporting a remote start to the school year.

Salvatore, once certain he would open his schools, is suddenly taking a second look at his options for the fall, he said. But he’s worried what will happen if he changes his mind.

“When people see the numbers of educators nervous or concerned or asking for accommodations, they are going to think they are the reason schools are not open,” Salvatore said. “I’ve seen it already, the propaganda where people are demonizing teachers... That’s not the right thing to do right now.”

Teachers across the state are taking a leave of absence or seeking to work remotely when the school year begins, citing health conditions or childcare concerns. Those requests have increased in recent days and could become an avalanche now that Murphy will allow districts to provide remote-only instruction if they can’t reopen safely due to the coronavirus pandemic, some school chiefs said.

Murphy has not reversed his mandate that schools reopen for in-person classes. But he is giving districts the option of staying closed and teaching virtually until they resolve their health and safety issues.

The result, some superintendents say, is a decision that could come down to whether schools have enough teachers — setting up educators to become even more of a lightning rod in an already divisive debate.

“What I think you’ll see over the next two weeks is schools are going to be brought to their knees with staffing needs,” said Charles Sampson, superintendent of the Freehold Regional High School District.

Murphy required all schools to reopen, saying in-person instruction is best for students. He then softened that stance Wednesday after several districts said they couldn’t do so safely. The state is now offering flexibility for districts with “legitimate and documentable reasons” for not reopening.

At least one district, Elizabeth Public Schools, announced Monday it can’t reopen because of a teacher shortage. It says 375 staff members have filed requests to teach from home due to health concerns. The next night, the New Jersey Education Association — the state’s largest teachers union — demanded Murphy order all schools to begin the year remotely.

“The stakes are too high, and the consequences of a wrong decision are too grave,” the NJEA said in a joint statement with the New Jersey Association of School Administrators and the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.

Districts beyond Elizabeth and Long Branch are seeing increased staff requests to work remotely, said Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.

“We are getting more and more requests, which are making, quite frankly, the operation and the safe matter of schools becoming difficult,” Bozza said. “Not in every place, but in many places.”

Murphy’s remote option calls for districts to design a plan for opening once they have resolved their safety challenges. It’s unclear how long it could take districts to overcome a staff shortage, said Patricia Wright, executive director of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.

“As far as actually fixing that problem and having more staff quickly, that’s literally almost impossible,” Wright said. “Substitutes were difficult to find in schools before the pandemic. Now you are asking to find substitutes in a pandemic.”

Long Branch could lose a sizable portion of its 970 employees. More than 70 staff members are 65 or older, Salvatore said. Countless other employees fall into high-risk health categories.

Some of those teachers have been waiting to see the final state health guidelines before making a decision whether to return to their classrooms. Accommodation or leave requests from just a few key staff members, such as school nurses, could sink the district’s reopening plan, Salvatore said.

Some school administrators resent having to choose between reopening or going all-remote.

Health officials should decide whether it’s safe for schools to reopen, not education officials in nearly 600 individual districts, Sampson said.

“I am incredulous that they are not making the decision,” he said.

Prior to Murphy’s announcement, Freehold Regional was fully prepared to reopen with a hybrid model, and 82% of parents surveyed said they support a return to in-person instruction, according to Sampson.

But many school employees who live in neighboring districts suddenly have uncertain childcare situations after Murphy’s reversal. More staff might ask for leave or accommodations to work from home.

“The concept of choice was the worst thing to do,” Sampson said. “Communities are going to be at one another’s throats. They are going to turn on the teaching staff, especially in communities where there is overwhelming support for in-person learning.”

School officials also worry about the potential for mass retirements. But the number of educators who have filed as of Aug. 1 remains consistent with prior years, said Steve Baker, spokesman for the NJEA.

Teachers with health concerns are likely waiting for more certainty about school reopening plans, Baker added.

“There’s been a lot of movement even in the last few days on that front, and I’m guessing people are hesitant to make a huge life decision without all the necessary information,” he said.

Potential staffing shortages were already an issue before Murphy’s announcement, said Betsy Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools. Now those concerns are escalating, she said.

“We are down to the wire now because school districts are like big ships. They don’t turn on a dime,” Ginsburg said. “Boards of education and superintendents this week are going to have to make decisions, hard decisions, about whether to change course completely.”

Freehold Regional employees have a deadline looming next week for leave requests, Sampson said. He predicted the final days of summer will become “incredibly adversarial” as communities are pitted against each other and districts are pressured from both sides.

“The second that my hybrid model stays in existence and my next door neighbor decides to go fully remote, the issue then becomes an issue of the individual superintendent not valuing lives, when we have vetted these plans to this point,” he said.

Whether it is a staff shortage or other issues, Ginsburg expects many more school districts to announce they will not open their doors in September.

“You know when you pop popcorn and the first few kernels pop and then all of a sudden they all start to pop?” she said. “That is what is going to happen.”

NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Samantha Marcus contributed to this report.

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Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com.

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