Jersey City Parents Plan Protest After District Delays Reopening

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Jersey City parents are mobilizing to have their voices heard after receiving the news that their children won't be returning to the classroom this year, but instead schools will reopen in September.

Jenn Sforza, a mother of three, is organizing a protest against the decision. The protest is planned for Thursday morning to coincide with the Board of Education meeting that day.

Many parents like Sforza were planning to send their children back into schools next week, as the district had planned, but the last-minute delay has left the 30,000 student-district and parents back where they started, completely remote.

"You plan for being able to have your normal schedule again, to be able to say my kids are safely in schools being taught like they're supposed to be — all that went down the drain," Sforza said.

She works for a Christian nonprofit but is also pursuing her Master's degree at Rutgers University to become a librarian. While her work and classes have been remote, Sforza said the past year has been tough with three kids in virtual classes as well. Her children's return to in-person classes, even for a few months, would have given her the space to catch up on her work.

Jersey City Public Schools Superintendent Franklin Walker sent a robocall to parents on Sunday night announcing the delay in reopening. Walker's message cited a lack of necessary staff to reopen the schools.

Sforza said she has great respect for Jersey City teachers and knows many are disappointed but that she was disappointed to hear on the robocall that 500 teachers did not set up their classrooms on Thursday and Friday.

"It felt like a betrayal between the parent and teacher confidence and relationship," Sforza said, "But I know that the root cause is truly on the Jersey City Board of Education — they make the rules, they set the game."

Thursday's protest is planned for 9 a.m. in front of the Jersey City Board of Education building. Sforza said while she and many other parents would love a return to the original reopening plan, she's not setting her hopes on it.

"At this point, we as parents just want our superintendent to know that we are not happy, that we are frustrated," Sforza said.

The protest has the back of a Facebook group "Open Jersey City Schools Now" which has over 200 members.