Gov. Murphy: NJ Schools Should Move To Reopen 'Now' Amid COVID-19

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy is calling for New Jersey schools to reopen "now" amid the COVID-19 crisis as he faces mounting pressure to get kids back in the classroom.

Murphy noted that the American Rescue Plan, passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, provides nearly $2.8 billion to New Jersey schools. Much of this funding is meant to help schools reopen and combat the learning loss "we know has occurred," he said. Read more: See What Each NJ Town Is Getting From COVID Relief Law

"But now is the time for all of our schools to meaningfully move forward with a return to in-person instruction, whether it be full time or through a hybrid schedule," Murphy said during his Wednesday news conference.

After Murphy made those remarks, lawmakers, school officials and parents called on the governor to match his words with action, citing the fact that teachers can now get vaccinated and COVID-19 virus transmission in schools has been low.

Read more: Where To Get The Coronavirus Vaccine In New Jersey (UPDATED)

“I am encouraged to see the governor setting the stage for the next phase of the return to the classroom, with a uniform call for all students to have some form of in-person instruction before the end of the school year," Democratic Senate Education Chair M. Teresa Ruiz said in a statement Wednesday evening.

"I hope that the administration begins to address the issue of learning loss and seek ways to ensure all students are supported for a stronger start to the next academic year.”

Biden himself is pushing, along with many parents in the Garden State, to get students back in their classrooms. In addition, a change to the social distancing guidelines being considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could make it possible sooner. Read more: New Social Distancing Guidelines Could Get NJ Kids Back In Class

Murphy's statements came days after a state Superior Court judge ordered teachers in the South Orange-Maplewood school district to report back to their buildings soon to teach sixth and ninth graders.

The majority of students in the district have been on remote learning for a year. However, kindergartners through second graders returned this past week, and special-needs students returned earlier this month

The schools were originally supposed to reopen for in-person learning in November, but ventilation issues pushed the reopening to January. That month, schools reopened for a week, then closed again, with teachers citing safety concerns and a need to be vaccinated.

A SOMA parent group has pushed for reopening, noting it has been approximately a year since the last in-person class for all students. Last week, some students and parents staged a sit-in to urge for schools to open five days a week.

Five parents, meanwhile, filed a lawsuit against the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District, Board of Education and Superintendent Joan Mast for keeping students out of school.

"This civil action challenges the blatant abuse of discretion by [the district, BOE, and Mast] for the unconstitutional, random and arbitrary continued shutdown of in-school learning in their public school system," according to the suit filed in federal court. Read more: Parents Sue Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools For Closing Amid COVID

Murphy was prepared last summer to order all schools to at least have some sort of hybrid model and have all students spend some time in the classroom.

He eventually backed off and offered a remote option when a number of districts complained they weren't prepared to deal with social distancing and their schools weren't properly ventilated.

Murphy noted that 142 districts are currently open for all in-person instruction, with 108,000 students back in their classrooms full time. Another 534 schools are open for hybrid instruction. That accounts for more than 843,000 students, "and the shift from hybrid to full time, in-person over the past week is the biggest shift we have seen," he said.

"To that end, we will be engaging in stakeholder discussions over the next six weeks, resulting in clear and concise guidance to support ongoing school reopenings and looking ahead to the 2021-2022 school year," Murphy said.

Murphy noted that an important component to containing the spread of COVID-19 is robust testing, which "helps us determine levels of community spread in the state which is vital to informing reopenings."

Republican Sen. Kristin Corrado urged the Murphy Administration to release guidance that would allow school districts to begin planning graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2021.

“For students who graduated high school last year and their parents, not having a graduation ceremony in June really hurt,” said Corrado. “Our local school districts are eager to do better this year and give the Class of 2021 the graduation experience they deserve. We’re asking the Department of Education to release the guidance that districts will need to follow as soon as possible so they can begin planning right away.”

With limited time to plan and modified in-person ceremonies prohibited until early July, many districts skipped traditional commencement ceremonies completely in 2020, she noted.

“Our graduating seniors have missed out on the last year and a half of their high school experience,” Corrado said. “They shouldn’t miss out on their graduation, too. There’s a real hope that we’ll have made enough progress in vaccinations by June that our high school seniors can get the send-off they deserve. Hopefully the DOE acts quickly and isn’t unnecessarily restrictive when they let us know how commencement ceremonies will be allowed to proceed.”

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