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N.J. to allow all-remote learning option for students when schools reopen in the fall, Murphy says
Updated Jul 21, 10:28 AM; Posted Jul 20, 12:07 PM
46.7ksharesBy Amanda Hoover | NJ Advance Media For NJ.com
Parents worried about sending their children back to school during the coronavirus pandemic will have the option to choose all-remote learning when schools reopen this fall, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.
“The Department of Education will be releasing guidance allowing for parents to choose all-remote learning for their children,” Murphy said during his daily press briefing in Trenton Monday. “Again, the details will be coming out later this week, but we wanted everyone to know now that we will allow for this step.”
He did not provide further details.
“There a lot of moving parts to this,” Murphy said. “We want to get it right. We want to do it responsibly.”
When asked if the remote option would apply to teachers concerned about falling ill, Murphy said that was not the general plan, but did say he did not want to predict the plans to be announced later this week.
“This is going to be focused on kids and parents,” he said. “One of the aspirations put forward by educators has been less density in the classrooms and some capacity limits.”
“If kids are remote learning, that is indirectly addressing capacity and density in the classroom,” Murphy said.
The education department released guidance last month on reopening schools. While districts have autonomy in determining the details, the overarching rules mandated schools have at least some in-person instruction, require masks on staff and strongly encourage students to wear them unless they have a medical exception, keep social distancing and screen students and staff for symptoms.
But the department also said districts “should strive to ensure that every student has access to a device and internet connectivity” to engage students in remote learning when necessary.
Murphy has already lifted many restrictions put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus in March. But he said Friday the state has stalled “largely in a holding pattern,” with many indoor services and businesses remaining closed.
Risks with indoor transmission, which poses greater threats than outdoor activity, have left many concerned about how well schools can restrict the spread of the virus.
Murphy said school reopening may prove the trickiest step of all.
“We want to respect public health, but we also want to do everything we can to try to recapture that magic of some semblance of in-person education that no state does like New Jersey,” he said.