Chatham Prepares For School Reopening: Take Our Survey

CHATHAM, NJ - Although the plans are still not final, the School District of the Chathams has shared a sneak peek as to what school could look like this fall amid the COVID-19 pandemic. And spoiler alert: wearing a mask is key.

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"All committees of our Board of Education and various teams of our district leadership staff have been meeting over the past two months to generate plans for reopening our schools. Our core goal is for all students to be in school as much as possible while preserving the safety of all students and staff in the school environment," Superintendent Michael LaSusa said in a statement. "In addition, the recent parent survey regarding virtual learning indicated that approximately 90 percent of parents intend to send their children to school in the fall."

LaSusa said based on all discussions and feedback, the district has assembled the basic tenets of their plans, noting they would all be subject to change and need approval.

The Plan A for return will entail the following:

• Schools will be open to all students every day, on a modified schedule.
• The modified schedule will roughly follow a two-hour early dismissal schedule.
• Parents may opt to have their children remain on virtual instruction.
• Teachers will livestream what is taking place in the front of the room so that students who remain on virtual instruction may follow along with the class from home.
• Special Education programming will be based on each child’s IEP and may entail supplemental and extended programming.
• Schools will follow a two-hour early dismissal schedule when the year begins as lunch will not be served lunch in school.
• The abbreviated day will allow teachers to devote a certain amount of time to virtual instruction to supplement the in-person and remote learning taking place during the day.
• The earlier dismissal of students will provide additional time to sanitize the school buildings on a daily basis.

LaSusa noted that the district is currently in discussion with our childcare provider, The Work-Family Connection, to offer additional support for families who need childcare after the school day ends.

"Schools operate a wide range of classroom settings, including science labs, small group instruction spaces, classrooms of various square footage based on age of buildings, and so forth. We will strive to create 3-6 feet of physical distancing whenever possible, but we will require face coverings for all students while in classrooms, hallways, and other areas," LaSusa said. "Again, accommodations will be made for students with certain medical or other conditions that preclude the use of face coverings, and we are also in the process of securing face shields for student use. We will also implement additional physical spacing measures in classrooms, hallways, and other spaces."

The plan will also include additional time during the day to allow for handwashing, mask “breaks,” snack, and physical movement between rooms.

LaSusa said that transportation is a challenge for a variety of reasons and when schools open in the fall they will not offer subcription busing.

"We will develop a policy and communicate it to you by the end of the month regarding health screenings for students on a daily basis," LaSusa said. "This will likely involve parents confirming each day that their child is free from fever and other symptoms of illness. We will require that any child exhibiting symptoms of illness remain home from school. Those children may tap into the livestream of the classroom if they are well enough to do so."

LaSusa said that even with approvals it is possible Plan A might not be feasible if the health conditions in our community change between now and the end of August.

If Plan A is not possible, the district will move to Plan B. Plan B will be similar in structure to Plan A, but will rotate cohorts of students in and out of school on either a daily or weekly basis in order to reduce the number of students in school at once. When students are not in school, they will be expected to tune in to the livestream in their classrooms.

"While this will make more physical distancing possible, it will also be more disruptive to student learning and working parents," LaSusa said. "In this scenario, certain kinds of special education programming will likely remain in-person every day, consistent with Plan A.

Plan C is full virtual instruction for everyone, but will follow a schedule and structure similar to the above plans with live interaction between students and teachers every day.

"Plan A+ would be a full, normal return to school. We will move to Plan A+ if Plan A goes well, the health conditions in the community remain excellent, and so forth," LaSusa said.

All plans will depend upon input, guidance, and direction from the New Jersey and local Departments of Health.

LaSusa said the district was aware of the hardships involved in anything less than a 100 percent return to school, and asked that the public make arrangements to help bring students to school every day with safeguards and virus mitigation strategies in place.

"We ask that you please begin to create mask or face covering 'endurance' with your children," he said. "Please find reusable/washable face coverings that your child is comfortable wearing and gradually build up the amount of time they can tolerate wearing them."

LaSusa said the district would be communicating additional information about health and hygiene practices at the end of the month.

"But these small steps now will help in the fall, regardless of the type of Plan we implement," he said.

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