Moorestown School Board Discusses Plan For Full Return

MOORESTOWN, NJ — School districts across New Jersey can begin planning after Gov. Phil Murphy’s announcement that all districts will return to full in-person instruction with no remote option for the 2021-22 academic year. They’re just waiting on guidance from the state before that planning can begin.

Following Murphy’s announcement on Monday, the Moorestown Public School District said it is awaiting guidance on implementing a Safe Return Plan from the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), which it expects to receive May 24.

The plan is a template all districts must use, submit and have approved by the local board of education and the NJDOE, officials said at Tuesday night’s Moorestown Board of Education meeting. They said they’re not sure what’s included in the template yet, but they have a “pretty good idea” because of the processes they’ve had to follow for the last year.

It will also follow safety guidance from the New Jersey Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) in planning its return, just as it has since the coronavirus pandemic took hold last year.

The district has a parent forum scheduled for June 2, in which it will explain their plan. Sign-ups for the forum begin May 25.

The Board of Education will vote on the plan at its June 15 meeting, which is the deadline the state has given to have a plan in place. It will then provide final updates on the plan at its Aug. 18 meeting, officials said. The first day of school will be Sept. 8.

“We are confidently planning a return to full-day in-person school in September,” Moorestown Board of Education President Caryn Shaw said. “The principals, administrators, teachers, staff have been committed to this, having students back in class full-time in the fall. There are some COVID protocols that we need to determine, but planning is underway for a safe return.”

Because of the short timeline imposed by the state, the district won’t be using a return to school committee such as the one it used last summer to help determine the best plan heading into the current academic year, Shaw said.

The school district is engaged in five days of in person learning, all of which are half-days. These plans included a reduction in social distancing with additional mitigation measures. Read more here: Moorestown Schools Extend 5-Day In-Person Learning To All Students

Full-remote learning remains an option this year, but will not be permitted next year. Read more here: NJ Lifts COVID Travel Advisory, Orders In-Person School Next Year

The return to full-day in-person instruction in September will mark the first time Moorestown students will attend school for an entire day since March 2020, and the district wants to make it as normal as possible. Some of what was laid out in the district’s “Fall Forward” plan:

• Daily schedules will be what they were pre-pandemic;
• Instructional minutes will be what they were pre-pandemic;
• Desks will be 3-feet apart;
• The 6-feet of social distancing will still be followed during lunch, with additional lunch periods added to the day to accommodate for that;
• Large spaces with dedicated HVAC systems and high air exchange rates will be used for lunch;
• Surfaces and frequently touched areas will be sanitized between use;
• The 6-feet of social distancing will still be followed on buses, when possible, and masks will be worn when it is necessary;
• Buses will have assigned seating; and
• Buses will be sanitized between routes.

While everyone hopes the pandemic will be completely over by the time the next school year starts, the district does have plans in place if students must quarantine because of exposure to the coronavirus.

When quarantined, students will be invited to participate in class via Zoom or Google Meet. Paraprofessionals will be assigned to help with students in Grades K-3 in those instances.