South Orange & Maplewood School District: Virtual Instruction For All Students Effective 2/16/21

Press release from the South Orange & Maplewood School District:

Virtual Instruction for All Students Effective 2/16/21

February 15, 2021 By Anide Eustache

Dear SOMSD Community,

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. Notably, the initial walkthroughs resulted in agreement on numerous classrooms as being fit for use. Ultimately, it appears that disagreement over 34 workspaces, more than a dozen of which were brought to our attention as recently as Saturday, has led to this reaction. We are disappointed that our Phased reopening plan has again been disrupted. As we will lack the faculty necessary to staff the buildings, the District will resume virtual-only instruction indefinitely pending discussion with SOMEA’s representatives and consultation with our labor counsel as to remedies that will facilitate the resumption of our hybrid reopening plan. Central office employees will also work virtually.

The South Orange & Maplewood District

February 15, 2021 Filed Under: Clinton, Columbia, District News & Announcements, Jefferson, Maplewood Middle School, Marshall, Montrose, Seth Boyden, South Mountain, South Mountain Annex, South Orange Middle School, Superintendent, Tuscan

This press release was produced by the South Orange & Maplewood School District.The views expressed here are the author’s own.