East Brunswick Schools Postpones Return To Hybrid Learning

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — The East Brunswick School District on Thursday announced it was postponing return to hybrid learning by more than two weeks, due to growing COVID-19 infections.

The school district was scheduled to return to the hybrid learning model on Jan. 19, but it has now been pushed back to Feb. 4.

In a letter to the school community, school superintendent Victor Valeski said the decision was made after “careful consideration of the current COVID-19 infection and transmission rates.”

“I want everyone to know that I do not take this decision lightly,” said Valeski.

He said he heard from many parents and guardians about the impact of virtual learning on children.

“Unfortunately, the stark reality of the numbers reported yesterday point to a trend that hasn't peaked yet. The current COVID transmission rate is over 10 percent higher than the maximum acceptable safe threshold established before we returned in September,” he said.

During the Board of Education meeting held Jan. 7, Valeski said the district would adjust return dates if COVID-19 numbers remained high.

Read More Here: COVID-19 Could Affect East Brunswick Schools' Reopening Plans

“Asymptomatic spread of the COVID virus, and possibly its variants, has been creating havoc on our return. Our successful return to schools on Feb. 4 will be measured by our collective preparedness for it,” he said.

Valesi said some members of the school community have already taken the COVID-19 vaccine, and he asked the community to use the extra weeks to prepare for reopening

“We need to pull together, as a school community and use these extra few weeks to get ready for our return. Along with the vaccination rollout and acceleration that means all of us need to establish and maintain safe practices and we need to monitor our social distancing whether we are masked or not,” he said.

The superintendent said that the current number of COVID-19 positive and presumed positive cases among the school going population, would have definitely resulted in the closure of every school in the district.

“We need to be well, stay well to pull off our district wide return to face-to-face hybrid instruction, for those who select it, on Feb. 4,” he said.

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