Berkeley Superintendent Defends Schools' New Coronavirus Protocol

BERKELEY, NJ — The Berkeley Township School District's superintendent defended a new coronavirus protocol. Along with the usual screening at school, parents and guardians must complete a daily at-home screening before their children arrive.

The checklist provides parents with criteria for keeping their students home from school for 14 days. Superintendent Dr. James Roselli announced the new protocol Tuesday in a letter to parents and guardians. Berkeley schools have also taken students' temperatures upon arrival.

Berkeley school officials announced unspecified numbers of cases at Berkeley Township Elementary School and the Bayville School. Berkeley Elementary went remote Thursday and Friday. But the Bayville School remained open for in-person learning as the district coordinated with health officials.

Read more:

• Berkeley Elementary To Close 2 Days Due To Coronavirus Cases
• Coronavirus Cases Confirmed At The Bayville School

Berkeley and Central Regional schools began the fall with a hybrid model. But several parents have pushed the districts to increase in-person attendance.

Roselli, however, says the pandemic is a fluid situation.

"If people are going to criticize us that we’re looking out for the safety and health of our students and staff and the entire community, I would defend that to the end," Roselli told Patch. "Student safety, staff safety, all that — safety’s always been our No. 1 priority."

The Berkeley school district last developed a reopening plan Aug. 13. Roselli says officials knew they might need to make some changes to the plan because of the pandemic's unpredictability.

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Berkeley and Central Regional began the school year with hybrid learning. Officials have said their options for implementing in-person learning are limited because of state restrictions.

Officials from both districts met Oct. 1 to discuss the possibility of expanding in-person learning in the future. Since then, officials identified the aforementioned cases in the Berkeley district and a case within Central Regional schools. Read more: Central Regional Schools Report Positive Coronavirus Case

But Roselli says the timing of the recent cases hasn't brought Berkeley schools further away from developing a plan for moving forward.

"We sent out a memo last week that we really have to keep an eye on transmission rates — not only in the county but our community," he said. "There’s a lot of variables in play right now: the November break and Thanksgiving break. There’s a lot of things that are kind of not in our control, and we can’t predict what’s going to transpire. Are people going to travel?"

The Ocean County Health Department has reported 948 cases and 105 coronavirus deaths in Berkeley since the pandemic began.

The New Jersey Department of Health has reported three coronavirus outbreaks in Ocean County schools this fall. Publicly available state data does not clarify in which schools outbreaks have occurred.

"Outbreaks" indicate two or more laboratory-confirmed cases among students or staff within a 14-day period. They must be epidemiologically linked in the school setting, not share a household and not identify as close contacts of each other in another setting.

Asked whether Berkeley schools have had an outbreak this year, Roselli said, "That would be something that the Department of Health could determine. I can’t determine that."

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