Bernards Township School Reopening Plan: Masks, COVID Screening

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The fall school year is set to start in two weeks and Superintendent Dr. Nick Markarian highlighted some of the things students can expect when they return in-person to the Bernards Township School District.

School days:

• Full days, in-person instruction

Masks:

• All students and staff must wear masks inside school buildings and on school buses as mandated by Gov. Murphy.

Markarian noted the use of masks might actually be a good thing for the district.

"On one hand I think we can agree this is not fun to have to deal with the masks and on the upside as long as we are wearing masks in the classroom it helps us reduce that proximity concern to being less than 3 feet," said Markarian.

COVID Screening:

• The district is forgoing the COVID form but is still asking students and staff to make sure they are feeling well and have no fever

"We are still asking folks to check their health before coming to the district," said Markarian.

Social distancing:

• 3 feet

"We are trying for as much physical distancing as we can... But we hope the 3 feet with masks will virtually eliminate the need to quarantine students," said Markarian.

Cleaning:

• Hand hygiene will be encouraged and daily disinfecting will be conducted

Ventilation:

• Work is being done on the school buildings' HVAC and air filters.
• Windows will be open when the weather is reasonable.
• The finance committee is looking at other ways to improve the HVAC system by installing ionizations to purify the air in a way.

To see Superintendent Markarian's full report watch below (it begins around 9:16):

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