Maplewood Parents Ready To Rally As School Reopening On Hold

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Frustrated by the fact that the South Orange-Maplewood public schools are still remote after nearly a year, a group of parents has planned a rally for 5 p.m. on Monday at Maplewood Town Hall.

"The goal is to urge Superintendent Dr. Ronald Taylor, the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education and the South Orange Maplewood Education Association to reopen in-person learning immediately, five days a week for elementary and special education students," said a release from the group, SOMA for Safe Return to School.

The schools actually briefly opened in January for special education students and certain grades, but then went remote again when teachers cited unsafe conditions.

The teachers' union and Board of Education have continued negotiations, but a week ago, the teachers said they would not return, and the district said it would be remote "indefinitely." READ MORE: Maplewood Schools Are Now Remote Indefinitely

“Virtual learning has been a disaster for my son with ADHD,” said Ben Kaplan, a father of two boys in first and fifth grades at Seth Boyden Elementary School in Maplewood, in a release from the SOMA group. “He finally qualified for in-person learning through his IEP. We signed him up, talked about it all weekend, and he packed his backpack. He was so excited. The night before he was set to go back, we got a call that devastated us and him: in-person school was canceled. It sent him into a deep depression."

The SOMA group has a counter on their webpage that says that it's been 345 days since the last in-person class for all students.

"Since forming in December 2020," says a release, "[the group's] support has ballooned, with nearly 2,000 people signing the petition for elementary and special education children to return to in-person learning five days a week. Over 100 parents joined a Zoom call this week to share their frustration with the district’s sudden shift from hybrid to all-virtual instruction, and its negative impact on their children."

Kate Walker, co-leader of the group, said, “The needs of the youngest and most vulnerable children in this district are being pushed aside in the reopening conversation. They need to be the focus, and the priority. It is safe for schools to reopen, and our leaders need to make this happen immediately.”

The group cited low rates of in-person transmission in schools, where children must wear masks and follow other safety guidelines.

“The lack of opportunity to participate in in-person schooling is showing profound negative effects on our children,” said Julie Fry, parent and co-leader of the group.

Parents can sign up for the rally here: https://www.facebook.com/events/424313218681548.

Series of setbacks

The 2020-2021 school year in Maplewood so far has been riddled with setbacks.

• On-site was to begin in the district in November, but problems with the ventilation system put those plans on hold until January.
• Then, the superintendent said special education students and some grades could return in January, but others would have to wait until at least February.
• Hybrid education opened for a little over a week before the teachers cited unhealthy conditions and refused to report. Then, the parties agreed schools would reopen the following week.
• A snowy nor'easter caused schools to go remote for several days.

• The teachers' union sent a letter to the district a week ago Monday saying they were concerned about conditions in the schools, and would not report to the buildings.
• The district responded later on Monday, "We are in receipt of SOMEA’s email indicating that they are once again refusing to report to the school buildings. As per the Community Reopening Update of only a few hours ago, the district was making progress in its Phase 3 reopening with no evidence of in-school transmission. We felt that the Sidebar Agreement with SOMEA was working as intended..."

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