Bridgewater-Raritan School Reopening Plan: What To Expect

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The fall school year is set to start in a couple of weeks and new Superintendent Robert Beers is outlining the Bridgewater-Raritan School District's plan for the fall which includes in-person instruction, masking, and more.

Beers, who replaced interim superintendent Dr. Thomas Ficarra effective Aug. 9, sent out a letter to the community on Monday night saying the school district plans to open schools on Sept. 9 for full-day, in-person instruction with mitigation measures in place.

Measures include:

• Vaccination: According to CDC guidance, "Vaccination is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic." Twelve and older students are eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and are encouraged to procure a vaccine before the school year begins.
• Somerset County Health Department
• Covid 19 Vaccine Finder

• Symptom Screening: All parents/guardians of students who attended school in-person last year are aware of the Daily Covid Symptom Screening that BRRSD and many other school districts had in place. This year, the responsibility of parents/guardians to monitor each child’s health remains in place; however, a daily form is not required. Parents are asked to screen their student before every school day and keep their child home if they show signs of illness.
• Covid-19 Symptoms

• Masking: As per the governor’s executive order 251, all public and private school students, educators, staff, and visitors must wear face coverings indoors for the start of the 2021-22 school year. Students and faculty must wear face coverings on all district transportation. Face coverings must cover the nose and mouth while in use.

• Social Distancing: The Road Forward emphasizes that schools provide full-day, full-time instruction with lunches for all students. The document also states that distancing three feet when possible should be used as one mitigation strategy in classrooms, cafeterias, and other common areas. In BRRSD, the district will structure schools to have three feet of distancing when possible while also ensuring that all students benefit from full-day, full-time instruction.

• Ventilation: Beginning with the summer of 2020 and continuing through the present, extra attention has been given to ensuring that all school ventilation systems are working as designed. The classrooms at each building have been checked to ensure that all systems are operational. Any issues that arise during the school year will be addressed as a top priority.

• Handwashing/Respiratory Etiquette: While not in place only during the pandemic, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette are essential mitigation strategies promoted throughout the school district. Handwashing or hand-sanitizing may be directed at routine times, such as upon arrival, before and after eating, and before and after using any shared equipment. Respiratory etiquette will continue to be taught to younger students and reinforced with older students.

• Contact tracing and testing: The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District will collaborate with the local Health Department to the extent allowable by privacy laws and other applicable laws to confidentially provide information about people diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19.

• Medically-fragile students: The district understands that students may have medical conditions that will preclude them from attending school in person this upcoming year. If a parent believes their child has a medical condition that would warrant special consideration, they are asked to email pduplay@brrsd.k12.nj.us. Include "Medical Concern" in the subject line of the email. Once the email is received, parents and treating physicians are required to complete two forms. When the district gets the completed forms back, they will forward them to the school physician to review the application and determine the need for home instruction.

"The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District is committed to providing full-day instruction for every student during the 2021-22 school year. Although September will present challenges, collectively, we can work together to provide high-quality education utilizing the safest format possible," said Beers.

As of Monday, Bridgewater reported 42 new positive coronavirus cases since Aug. 10. The township did not have any reported cases on Monday, Aug. 16.

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