Students Petition Bernards Twp. Schools' Return To Full-Day Class

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — It's a day many parents pushed for and administrators planned for, the Bernards Township School District's return Monday to full-day schooling. But the decision faced pushback from another cluster of students and parents.

Ridge High School students circulated a petition calling for the continuation of abbreviated school days. About 1,100 members of the school community have signed as of Wednesday afternoon. See the petition here.

Students listed concerns such as effects on mental health, the possibility of increased workload and the arrangement's potential to reverse community success in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Several students discussed the issue at Monday's Board of Education meeting.

Sophomore Arushi Mishra said extending the school day would intensify health issues virtual issues have faced, such as back pain, eye strain, headaches and insomnia. She also didn't believe a return to school lunches was a good idea.

"Masks off, eating around people, being closer to people will increase the tension of students and teachers that already are experiencing this and will cause more of a risk to them and their families," Mishra said.

Vivian Zhang claimed that classrooms aren't equipped for the technology students have used this year.

"Another peer of mine attending school said the battery for their essential device ran out by the middle of the day," Zhang said. "The outlet ports in classrooms are not enough to keep up with the number of students and their devices."

The district has gradually let students return to in-person learning five days per week after beginning the school year primarily on a hybrid schedule. But the schools dismiss before lunch.

Beginning Monday, in-person and online students will have full school days. The arrangement raised concerns from students supporting the petition who believe the new schedule plus homework could overload them in an already stressful year.

But board members said a full-day of schooling would mean less work outside of class.

"Teachers have been instructed to understand that while we are going back full-day, it is still a pandemic," said Board Member Jennifer White. "So we aren’t going back to how it once was in terms of the workload. They’re very, very conscious of that. If a student finds themselves in a situation where that isn’t happening, then they should be reaching out to the teacher to address that."

White also mentioned that elementary schoolers have had snack time, and high schoolers have brought snacks to class.

Superintendent Nick Markarian said the district has an obligation to provide a full school day.

"I really don’t view it as an option if we’re able to run a full day of school for students to not provide that," he said.

COVID Data

New Jersey adopted guidance last month from the Centers for Disease Control that allows schools more flexibility in distancing students. Elementary schools could reduce distancing from 6 to 3 feet between students as long as they wore masks. Middle and high schools could do the same if local coronavirus risk wasn't high.

Two weeks ago, state officials reduced Somerset County's COVID-19 risk level from "high" to "moderate." Criteria includes case rate, prevalence of COVID-like illness and levels of transmission.

New Jersey's overall COVID-19 numbers have trended positively in recent weeks, with fewer new cases per day and hospitalizations. But the number of people on ventilators remains stagnant and sits at 232 as of Tuesday.

The Bernards Township School District arranged COVID-19 vaccinations for 230 staff members with Atlantic Health. Sixteen- and 17-year-old students have been eligible for vaccination since April 19. According to the CDC, 42.1 percent of Somerset County's adults have been fully vaccinated.