Newark Public Schools Reopen From Coronavirus: Here’s The Plan

NEWARK, NJ — New Jersey’s largest public school district has officially reopened its classrooms.

On Monday, Newark public schools marked a big milestone, kicking off its long-awaited hybrid model, which includes part-time, in-person classes. It will be the first time that most students have been inside a school building since the district shifted to all-remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.

See the full reopening plan here.

About 40 percent of the district's students – roughly 14,500 – are reportedly planning to take part in the hybrid plan.

Some highlights include:

• Most students will go to school for two days and learn remotely for three days
• Students/staff must wear face masks and social distance. Desks will be six feet apart and will have partitions.
• Consenting students/staff will be group tested for COVID-19
• Temperature checks for students and staff
• Increased sanitization efforts
• Water fountains will be turned off (staff and students should bring their own water)
• Visitors won’t be allowed in school buildings

Gov. Phil Murphy said he “applauds” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark Superintendent of Schools Roger Leon and Newark Teacher’s Union President John Abeigon for their efforts to get New Jersey students and educators “safely and responsibly back to school.”

Murphy said that there is a push towards reopening schools taking place across the state, including Essex County.

“Roughly 810,000 students across 496 districts are open for hybrid instruction, and that includes now Newark,” the governor said. “This is an increase of about 64,000 over last Monday. A lot of that’s coming from Newark.”

• See related article: Montclair Elementary School Students Return To Classrooms
• See related article: Bloomfield Schools Move To Hybrid Timetable Ahead Of Reopen

“Since the decision to close in-person operations in our offices and the schools and replace it with virtual operations and remote learning, we’ve learned many lessons,” Superintendent León wrote.

“The health and safety of students and staff have been our first priority, and will remain so,” León continued. “As the nation and state prepare for reopening, we in Newark are confident that science will remain our guide.”

Things will be very different this year, León said. That includes:

“Every employee will be required to provide documentation of negative test results to return to in-person operations, and beyond that we will be implementing a retesting protocol as the year proceeds. We have new ingress procedures that will be required at every school and office location. Our facilities staff has perfected a process of intensive cleaning and sanitizing that has been praised as a model second to none. Specialized teams of custodial staff have been trained to enable us to become self-sufficient in case we are required to shut any of our facilities. We have delivered approximately one million meals to the children of the City of Newark and their families, and our food service workers will continue to do so for all Newark students, whether they are learning in person or remotely.”

The superintendent added a caveat for the future.

“One lesson we have learned, however, is that no matter how hard we prepare, things can change,” he wrote. “Flexibility has become our new normal. Patience is a virtue, and we ask for yours, as it will help us enormously during these next few weeks and months.”

• See related article: Newark Schools Will COVID Test Students, Staff When They Reopen
• See related article: Study Says 'COVID Slide' Is Hurting New Jersey Students
• See related article: Pop-Up Vaccinations For Newark School Workers Ahead Of Reopening

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