Morris Middle, High School To Quarantine After Spring Break

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Morristown High School and Frelinghuysen Middle School will temporarily go virtual after spring break, officials announced. The number of staff who will need to quarantine after the break will make it "impossible" for the schools to operate in-person, according to Wednesday's notice from the Morris School District.

The closures will take place April 5-9. Students in self-contained special education classes will attend school on their regular schedules. Sports practices and competitions will also continue as scheduled.

Elementary schools will remain open.

Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast urged the public to continue taking coronavirus precautions.

"As weary as we all are of restrictions," Pendergrast wrote, "we must continue to be vigilant about practicing careful and responsible behavior in and out of school — especially during spring break. Let’s continue working together to protect the health and safety of our district and wider community by observing all protective measures, including following quarantine protocols, so that we can finish the year strong, allow our children to enjoy special milestone moments and end-of-year events, and position the district well for a successful school reopening in September."

New Jersey's most recent weekly coronavirus activity report, released Friday, places Morris County and most of the state under "high" COVID-19 risk. State officials judge risk level based off factors such as case rates, prevalence of COVID-like illness and positivity rates.

New Jersey officials advise people to self-isolate for at least 10 days after travel. But the Morris School District says people should quarantine for 14 days after traveling. This comes from a determination from local health departments, who based the quarantine length on area risk level and case rates, along with the presence of COVID-19 variant strains.

Currently, district elementary schools learn in-person five days per week, but school dismisses before lunch. Grades 6-12 learn through a hybrid model.

Pendergrast outlined a plan earlier this month for all schools to gradually return to five-day, in-person learning from April 19 to May 17. But the plan will depend on several factors, such as Morris County getting back into the "moderate" risk-level zone for three straight weeks.

The plan received some pushback from parents at March 15's Board of Education meeting. Several said they hoped Morris schools could move to full-day, in-person learning before the end of the school year.

Pendergrast outlined several reasons for caution, including the deaths this year of two staff members from COVID-19. Because of confidentiality, the superintendent did not identify the deceased employees. Read more: 2 Morris School Staffers Died From COVID-19 During The Pandemic

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