Woodbridge Public Schools Will Be All Virtual Until Jan. 19

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Another large New Jersey school district will revert back to being fully remote through January, as COVID cases are surging in the second wave.

Woodbridge public schools will be all virtual until Jan. 19, 2021.

"We have made the very difficult decision to return to Phase 1 at all schools, effective November 23," said Woodbridge schools superintendent Robert Zega in this letter to parents. "We will remain in Phase 1 until January 19, 2021."

Special education will remain in person "as much as possible," said Zega. Everyone else will be fully remote. However, extracurricular activities, including all Woodbridge high school sports, will be allowed to continue through the end of the season (November and December).

With 26 schools and more than 13,000 students, Woodbridge is the eighth largest school system in the state.

Patch has been chronicling the trials of WPS during to COVID: The district started the year all virtual due to a teacher shortage.

Then on October 12, Woodbridge schools moved into "phase two," which was a half hybrid/half remote model.

But by late October, the district was worried that so many teachers would travel to high-risk states over the fall break — and then have to follow Gov. Murphy's 14-day quarantine — that schools would be forced to revert back to all virtual.

That was also when the state's new daily case rate was below 500.

Just last week, that daily new case rate has skyrocketed to higher than 4,000 twice; and greater than 3,000 twice.

"The daily new case rate is six to eight times the rate it was in October, and very similar to what it was in April when New Jersey shut down," said Zega on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday, the Woodbridge school district currently has 94 students and staff who have tested positive. Of those, 63 have been physically inside school buildings.

"Our district has done a heroic job preventing outbreaks, keeping our students and staff safe, and providing instruction as the infection rate skyrockets," said Zega. "Twelve of 25 of our schools (almost half) have been forced to switch to fully remote due to quarantining. We have over 500 students and staff who have had to quarantine."

"Last spring our world changed. Our premier priority has been, and will continue to be, the safety of our staff and students. It is with this priority that we have arrived at our decision."

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