Montgomery Schools Switch To Virtual For Next 8 Weeks

MONTGOMERY, NJ — All Montgomery students will be switching to all-virtual learning beginning on Monday and remain until next year due to rising coronavirus cases in the township and state.

"The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge our district and community. It should be noted that while the transmission rates within our schools remain low we are seeing an increase in cases in our community and state," Montgomery Township Superintendent of Schools Mary E. McLoughlin said in a letter to the community Wednesday announcing the shift.

With the holiday season approaching McLoughlin said the district consulted with the district’s school physician and the Montgomery Township Health Department and decided to switch the district to all virtual.

The hybrid in-person model for instruction will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.

Montgomery isn't the only school district making the switch. Bridgewater and Scotch Plains-Fanwood have as well.

The township reported 11 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday morning among Montgomery residents. Those cases reported among residents do not include 53 positive tests reported over the weekend at the Carrier Clinic, a behavioral health facility in Belle Mead, where there has been an outbreak among staff and patients in a single unit. None of those staff and patients live in Montgomery.

"It's time to reduce unnecessary social activities and hunker down," said Montgomery Health Officer Stephanie Carey. "We have been lucky to avoid the worst outbreaks until now, but we are connected to other communities through employment, shopping, friends, and family. We cannot think of ourselves as an island. It’s time to become more cautious."

As more people are gathering and with the holidays coming up, Gov. Phil Murphy implemented new restrictions to curtail the spread of the virus. He reduced the limits on indoor gatherings from 25 to 10 people beginning this past Tuesday, and on outdoor gatherings from 500 to 150 people beginning Nov. 23.

New Jersey reported 4,060 new COVID-19 coronavirus cases and 38 more fatalities on Tuesday – the highest single-day death toll since early July.

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