Hillsborough Schools Pivot To Virtual Due To COVID Surge

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough Schools will start the new year virtually due to an increase in statewide cases of COVID-19.

"Due to rising student absences and staffing shortages across all schools, we have made the very difficult decision to shift to full-day virtual instruction for the week of Jan. 3 to 7," said Hillsborough Acting Superintendent Dr. Kim T. Feltre.

This week will offer full days of live instruction/services that will follow the normal in-person schedule. During the virtual instruction, certificated staff will be providing live instruction/services for their classes and students are expected to have their cameras on during class.

"As we are committed to resuming in-person instruction as soon as we safely can, we will continue to re-evaluate the situation on a daily basis to determine when we will be able to resume in-person instruction," said Feltre.

Feltre asked parents to contact their school nurse if their child is experiencing any signs of illness.

With regards to quarantining, while the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently revised isolation and quarantine timeframes for the general population it did not include K-12 schools. As a result, the school district must continue to follow the New Jersey Department of Health's guidelines.

"Please know that a lot of thought, care and deliberation went into making this decision and we are fully aware that this decision will not be welcomed by some," said Feltre. "Please show empathy and understanding for the teachers and administration as we strive to provide the best possible education for our students (your children) during this newest surge in COVID cases."

As of Dec. 23, Hillsborough Township Schools reported a total of 34 positive cases. There was a total of 219 cases for the entire month of December.

In Somerset County as of Dec. 30, there were 1,004 new cases reported and a total of 4,184 since Dec. 24.

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