Rising Cases Could Push Manchester Schools Remote: Superintendent

MANCHESTER, NJ — Escalating cases of the coronavirus among students and staff and the impact of quarantines in the Manchester Township School District could force the district to move to remote-only learning.

Superintendent David Trethaway said the district is closely monitoring cases in the schools after being notified of seven new cases early in the week, on the heels of 11 cases reported a week earlier.

Three of the new cases were at Ridgeway Elementary School, which had been fully remote instruction for the week following Thanksgiving.

Cases have been rising significantly throughout the area over the last two months, with Ocean County reporting more than 27,000 cases since the first cases were reported in March. Manchester has had nearly 1,800 positive cases, and 199 Manchester residents have died as a result of complications from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

"Due to the increase in the number of cases, we are closely monitoring the situations in each school," Trethaway said. "If this trend continues and if at some point we feel that the safety and health of our students becomes an issue or if students cannot be properly supervised, we would consider moving to a remote-only option."

"While we realize the importance of in-person instruction, other factors such as health and safety would take precedence," he said.

"While we will make every effort to notify parents and staff in a timely manner of any future decision, it is important to be prepared in the event that remote-only learning may be an option. This may be done on a school by school basis or district, depending on the specific circumstances," Trethaway said.

He urged parents and staff to monitor health issues and complete the health forms each day when attending school, staying home as a precaution when someone is ill.

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