One of the state’s largest teachers unions is asking New Jersey to call off its plan to reopen schools for in-person classes next month, saying the risk to students and staff is “too high.”
The Essex County Education Association, which represents 12,000 teachers in one of the state’s largest counties, released a letter Friday to state and county lawmakers calling for a return to all-remote learning for all public schools.
“The Essex County Education Association cannot, in good faith, support the reopening of public schools for in-person instruction in September. Simply put, despite the best of intentions and planning, the risk to the health and safety of our students and staff is too high,“ wrote Anthony Rosamilia, president of the Essex County Education Association.
The statement adds to mounting pressure on Gov. Phil Murphy and his administration to reconsider requiring the state’s more than 500 school districts to hold in-person classes at the start of the 2020-2021 school year.
Schools are scheduled to restart at the end of August and in early September with elaborate social distancing plans, masks for teachers and students and modified schedules.
John McEntee, president of the Paterson Education Association, has also called for Murphy to keep school buildings closed and return to all-remote learning for the start of the school year.
The New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, has not called for schools to remain closed. But union officials have called on teachers to express their concerns to local school restart committees currently meeting around the state.
Murphy has said districts will also be required to offer all-remote learning plans for families uncomfortable with sending their kids to school.
The Essex County teachers union said if there are safety concerns, Murphy needs to call off the in-person classes now to give families time to plan to make alternate arrangements.
“Districts are wasting precious weeks creating plans with convoluted schedules and Plexiglas dividers that are plainly unworkable. Staffing these plans will prove to be impossible,” Rosamilia wrote in his letter, which is also signed by the heads of two dozen local teachers unions across Essex County.
Many teachers are planning to leave the profession rather than return to the classroom now, the union said.
“Ultimately, once cases of COVID start showing up — and they will — these plans fall apart like a house of cards. Where do districts, families and students end up in that case? Right back in remote learning anyway, but without the benefit of planning and preparation because we were too busy figuring out who is going to be taking temperatures and sanitizing every surface each day,” Rosamilia wrote.
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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.
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It’s unsafe to reopen schools. Don’t do it, says N.J. union representing 12K teachers. - nj.com
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