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UPDATE: N.J. is not planning statewide school closure due to COVID-19 spike, Gov. Phil Murphy says
New COVID-19 cases are soaring in New Jersey. Holiday gatherings are right around the corner. And Tony Trongone has an eerie feeling.
“I think we are living in an Alfred Hitchcock movie,” the superintendent of Millville Public Schools said Wednesday. “The suspense is there. But it’s the unknown. The anxiety of the unknown.”
School leaders who reopened their buildings this fall say they don’t know how much longer their doors will remain open as the pandemic’s second wave hits the state. But there is one thing they’re fairly certain of: Gov. Phil Murphy isn’t going to make the difficult decision for them.
“The expectation is that it’s on us,” said Robert Zywicki, superintendent of Mount Olive Public Schools. “All the heat is on us, and it’s taking a toll on superintendents.”
Murphy ordered all schools to close in March for what turned out to be the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. But the governor has promised to take a more surgical approach to restrictions this fall, even as the state reported 3,078 new coronavirus cases Wednesday — the third time in five days with more than 3,000 positive tests.
The governor’s office shot down a rumor long circulating in education circles that Murphy would close all schools from late November through late January.
Any statewide decision restricting in-person learning would be based on health data and guidance from health and education experts, said Christine Lee, a spokeswoman for the governor. No such decision has been made, she said.
There is little reason to believe Murphy will spare superintendents from making a potentially unpopular decision, according to Trongone.
“The governor is smart,” he said. “He has got an election coming up next November, and it is going to have implications. And he doesn’t want the political fallout of a negative decision to impact his image. He will put it on the superintendents.”
Some school chiefs want the flexibility to decide when to close, but many would prefer the state to act so districts' decisions are consistent across communities, said Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.
In the absence of a state directive, school leaders face “tough choices,” said Betsy Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools.
“Boards of education and local superintendents have all the responsibility, all the liability and most of the stress,” said Ginsburg, who advocates for about 100 suburban school districts.
The number of COVID-19 cases transmitted in schools has been surprisingly low this fall, according to public health experts. The state has reported 36 confirmed outbreaks involving 146 students and staff since the school year began.
However, those numbers are expected to only rise as cases mount in local communities, said Stephanie Silvera, an epidemiologist and professor of public health at Montclair State University. The widespread transmission of the virus outside of schools, often stemming from indoor gatherings this fall, could eventually lead to district-wide closures, she said.
“I would be very surprised not to see numbers continue to rise very dramatically," Silvera said. "If they do, I don’t think schools will have any choice but to go to a fully virtual format.”
Department of Health guidance tells schools to follow a regional risk matrix that measures the danger of COVID-19 in each county as low, moderate, high or very high. All 21 counties currently sit in the moderate range, which means in-person instruction is an option.
However, some superintendents worry their counties could soon meet the high-risk criteria, which would signal they should “consider implementing fully remote learning,” according to state guidance.
The decision whether to close or remain open — and if that choice is in line with neighboring districts — is a source of stress for superintendents, said G. Kennedy Greene, superintendent of Newton Public Schools.
“That is a push and pull that folks are feeling: collective versus individual action,” Greene said. “That is going to be a hard call.”
The potential length of the next school closure and the wide-ranging impact on the community adds to the dilemma, Trongone said.
“It is so political right now about just wearing a mask,” Trongone said. “So you are looking at businesses. You are looking at child care. It’s impacting the community... that weighs heavily on a school superintendent.”
For some school chiefs, the looming decision feels like a matter of when, not if, schools will close.
Mount Olive has two schools closed until mid-November and more than 40 teachers in quarantine, Zywicki said. He’s not sure the district can stay open as cases climb.
“I anticipate by mid-December, the vast majority of districts have to switch to all-remote learning because of the burden on contract tracing, quarantining staff and increased cases,” Zywicki said.
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Adam Clark may be reached at aclark@njadvancemedia.com. Have a news tip or a story idea about New Jersey schools? Send it here.
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