Jersey City Parents Skeptically Celebrate School Reopening

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Parents and several children celebrated on Thursday, the reopening of Jersey City Public Schools next week. While many parents saw the reversal of the reopening delay as a win, plenty of parents were skeptical that the district could change its mind, yet again.

Dozens braved the cold on Thursday morning to rally in front of the Jersey City Board of Education building on Claremont Avenue. The rally was originally intended to express frustration for the district's delay in the planned reopening for next week. Superintendent Franklin Walker made an announcement via robocall on Sunday night delaying the reopening. An outcry of criticism from parents in the days following led the district to release a second message on Wednesday night, announcing a reversal of the first reversal — in other words, school was back on, in-person, next week.

Starting April 29, Pre-K through 3rd grade students will be welcomed back for in-person classes with dismissal at 12:45 a.m. All other grades will be able to return in-person on May 10.

Thursday's rally was led by Jenn Sforza and attended by parents with children in tow, holding signs and chanting "Stop the fear, save our year." Mayor Steven Fulop joined the rally as well and has been vocal in supporting parents in the push for reopening schools and criticizing Superintendent Walker's decision.

Walker had said the reason for the reopening delay, in part, was a lack of necessary staff.

"If you have four or five hundred [teachers] that can't show up and 3,300 that can, you should be able to operate, so that wasn't a legitimate excuse," Mayor Fulop said on Thursday. He added that the reversal and plan to reopen schools was a good step for the district. "It speaks to the power that parents can have if they're involved," Fulop said.

Parents at the rally reiterated that they wanted to see a plan from the district rather than another message that felt last-minute. As of noon on Thursday, the district's "School Reopening Information" tab on the website featured only the message from Walker announcing the reopening next week. The Board of Education have a meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Yanira Ventura, a single mother from the Heights, made time to attend Thursday's rally because she said remote learning hasn't been working for her or her six-year-old daughter. Ventura has two jobs and has had to pay for full-time daycare for her daughter while schools have been remote.

"She can't handle being in front of the screen for more than two hours," Ventura said. She spends most of her free time now guiding her daughter through virtual assignments, when she's not on-call as a building super.

While the reopening is a step in the right direction, Ventura said it still won't help her this year.

"It won't even adjust to my schedule, 12:45 a.m. won't work! I work from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., there's no childcare facilities that are gonna take her in the middle of the day," Ventura said. The district's decision came too late for Ventura, who already paid the daycare tuition for her daughter, she plans on leaving her in daycare full time with the hope that schools reopen fully in the fall.

Other parents like Jen Fujita, who has children in first and third grade, also set their sights on the district's plan for the fall.

"I'm feeling relieved but still needing to understand what the plan is gonna be for September," Fujita said, "The constant changing is stressful. It's stressful for the kids, they get their hopes up, they get their hopes bashed, so we're hoping that this one sticks."

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