Madison Schools To Address Leave Applications

MADISON, NJ—After announcing Monday that the district would adhere to its return-to-school plan and open in September, the Madison Board of Education met Tuesday evening, with staffing issues looming over the start of the academic year.

"The fact of the matter is that we are looking at somewhere in the ballpark of upwards of 10 percent of our faculty members that will be on leave," said Superintendent Mark Schwarz.

Schwarz, who previously warned that a shortage of substitute teachers threatened the return to in-person instruction, told the board that the district is sorting through the many teacher leave applications for this fall. The administration will also address teacher requests to work remotely.

Schwarz told the board that the district can operate with 90 percent permanent staff, but when the remote work requests were factored in, the situation changed.

"The reality is," he said, "we will not feasibly be able to open with confidence in our supervision if we were to grant work from home accommodations to the 30-plus staff members who want to work from home."

The superintendent said the applications for leave and remote work would be evaluated and finalized by the end of Wednesday. But, he added, more request could come in at any time.

As more school districts have opted for remote-only instruction, many teachers who live in districts such as Madison have had to scramble to find someone to watch their children—or request leave. The issue, which many New Jersey school systems are challenged with, has also left some parents confused about who will be teaching their child.

"We'd like to let parents know if there's changes to their child's teacher assignments," the superintendent said. "Certainly by next week, if possible by the end of this week."

Schwarz, who said he's facing the same child care issues as many of the teachers, explained why the district is staying on the current path. He cited the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, and other data, and added that the school system is adhering to the governor's guidelines.

"We are under a mandate to open schools," Schwarz said, "if we don't open now, we need to be able to state why we can't open now and when we can open."