If New Jersey families haven’t gotten the email yet from their school districts, it’s probably headed to their inbox soon.
It’s time to say whether your kid is headed back to class this fall, or if your family is choosing the all-remote option and keeping your student at home for the start of the 2020-2021 school year.
Most of New Jersey’s nearly 600 school districts are asking parents to fill out forms and make a commitment to one plan or the other within the next few weeks as uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic continues. Gov. Phil Murphy said last month all public school districts must offer students the option of not returning to in-person classes if they have health concerns.
Early surveys show the number of families choosing the all-remote option is surprisingly high in some school districts — and surprisingly low in others.
An earlier statewide survey taken in June found about half of New Jersey parents said they were comfortable sending their students back to class.
The numbers in each district could change as families make their final decisions this month, but school officials say they believe the early surveys are a good indication of how parents are feeling about sending children back to school.
Here are some of the preliminary results from eight school districts:
Edison
Choosing all-remote option: 74%
The 16,000-student Middlesex County district, one of the largest in the state, said its survey of parents found the vast majority planned to keep their kids at home when schools reopen.
Nearly 74% of Edison parents said they are selecting the all-remote option, while the remaining 26% said they want their kids to return to in-person classes, said Bernard Bragen, the district’s superintendent of schools.
The low number of students expected to attend in-person classes means Edison doesn’t need to have to offer a “hybrid” plan limiting students’ time in the classroom to a few days a week, as most other districts are planning.
“With this number of students choosing to attend school in-person for September, we do believe that we can have a school day that is very similar to our traditional school day and also meet 5 days per week, but this needs to be finalized,” Bragen said in a letter to parents last week.
Willingboro
Choosing all-remote option: 70%
The school board in Willingboro, in Burlington County, voted to ask the state if it can open with an all-remote learning plan for its 3,300 students. That goes against the state’s guidelines calling for every school district to offer some in-person classes.
About 70% of Willingboro parents said they did not want to send their kids back to class, according to a survey by the school district in which nearly 2,000 families responded. With only 30% of students likely to return to class, district officials said it was safer and more practical for everyone to stay remote.
“The option that was best for our community, thinking of our children and our community, was a virtual learning environment,” Willingboro school board President Carlos Worthy told NJ Advance Media last week.
Willingboro and the Bayonne school district in Hudson County, which made a similar all-remote request to the state, were still waiting for a response from the state Department of Education early Friday.
West Windsor-Plainsboro
Choosing all-remote option: 59%
When the 9,500-student regional school district in Mercer County surveyed parents, about 59% said they will use the all-remote option for their kids this fall.
For the remaining 41%, West Windsor-Plainsboro is planning to reopen with an alternating-week schedule in which half of students will attend a half-day of classes in the mornings during “A” weeks, then spend the afternoon attending virtual classes at home. The following “B” week, the other half of students will attend a half-day of in-person classes. The weeks they are not in school, students will do their school work at home.
Jersey City
Choosing all-remote option: 52%
With 30,000 students, Jersey City is one of the largest school districts in the state. Based on a survey answered by about 8,000 families, the Hudson County school district said it was only expecting about half of students to return for in-person classes.
About 52% of parents said they prefer the all-remote option, Jersey City officials said. The district was asking parents choosing the all-virtual learning plan to commit to keeping their kids at home at least until the end of the first marking period.
But on Thursday, Jersey City’s school board voted to submit a plan to the state calling for starting the school year with virtual learning at home only and no in-person classes. It is unclear if the state will approve the plan, which does not meet the state’s guidelines calling for some in-person learning.
Originally, Jersey City planned a rotation that would have students attending class every three weeks. Under the plan, students would be split into A, B and C groups. During “A” weeks, the first group would go to school five days a week while the other two groups stay home remote learning. Then, B students would get to go to school the following week, and so on.
Bernards
Choosing all-remote option: 20%
Most of the 5,300 student in the suburban Somerset County school district plan to return for in-person classes, the district says.
Bernards’ survey found only 20% of families were planning to use the all-remote learning plan. With about 80% of students expected to return to the classroom, the district is planning to use a rotation in which elementary students are in class two or three days a week, depending on the week, while the rest of their classmates do their schoolwork at home.
Middle school and high school students will go to school either Monday-Tuesday or Thursday-Friday, under the plan. Everyone will do remote learning at home on Wednesdays.
Old Bridge
Choosing all-remote option: 22%
A survey by the 8,400-student district in Middlesex County found the majority of Old Bridge parents want to send their children back to the classroom.
The parents of more than 5,000 kids responded to the survey, which found only 22% of families wanted to keep their kids on full-time remote learning at home. The district’s preliminary plan is to have students come to school only one half-day per week in rotating groups and spend the rest of the time at home distance learning.
“Ultimately, as important as education is, it is not more important than anyone’s life,” Old Bridge Education Association President Tim O’Neill said.
Woodbridge
Choosing all-remote option: 47%
More than 5,000 families responded to the Woodbridge school district’s survey with parents nearly evenly split between sending their children to school and keeping them home.
About 47% of parents said their kids will not be returning to class and will be using the all-remote option, officials in the Middlesex County district said. The district has proposed dividing students who want to return to class into two groups that will each go back for a half-day, two days a week on a rotating basis. The students will distance learn at home on the days they are not in school.
Freehold Regional
Choosing all-remote option: 18%
The regional high school district in Monmouth County, which has more than 10,000 students, said few of its families expressed interest in the all-remote learning plan.
Only 18% of those surveyed said they would chose to have their high school students home full-time, district officials said. More than half of parents said they were also comfortable sending their high schoolers on buses to school.
Freehold Regional is planning on releasing its reopening plan Aug. 11, officials said.
Staff writers Joshua Rosario and Josh Axelrod contributed to this report.
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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.
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