NJ School Closures Grow As COVID Cases Spike

NEW JERSEY — The list of New Jersey schools pivoting to remote learning continues to grow as state COVID-19 case totals continue to rise.

On Wednesday, New Jersey hit a new record with 9,711 new COVID-19 cases reported in one day. This is the most amount of cases ever to be reported throughout the almost two-year pandemic.

As a result, some schools and even high education institutions are switching to virtual. Here is what we know so far:

Schools who switched to virtual for the week ending on Dec. 24:

• Plainfield Public Schools
• Newton High School
• South Brunswick High School
• Columbia High School
• South Orange Middle School
• Newark Public Schools

School switching to half days for the week ending on Dec. 24:

• Watchung Hills Regional High School
• Millburn School District
• Chatham School District

Some schools even went one step further when they announced that they will start the new year with remote education, due to rising COVID-19 cases.

Schools starting the New Year virtual:

• Maplewood School District
• The College of New Jersey

Schools starting 2022 with half days:

• Millburn Public Schools

"New Jersey's COVID caseload has climbed steadily over the last several weeks and just surpassed its previous peak set at the start of the year," said Jeffrey M. Osborn TCNJ Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. "With a high rate of transmission expected to continue into the first weeks of 2022, the college has made an adjustment to the instructional mode for Winter Session, which begins on Monday, January 3, 2022."

The number of schools joining these lists grows by the day but some are not quite ready to make the switch.

"The Warren Township School District is doing everything possible to keep all schools open and operating with traditional length school days. There are no plans to switch to virtual after winter break," said Superintendent Dr. Matthew Mingle of Warren Schools in Somerset County.

Toms River schools in Ocean County will also remain in-person in the new year.

"I know that as we enter this break and look toward 2022, there are questions and concerns about our schools as yet another wave of this pandemic factors in," Interim Superintendent Stephen Genco wrote. "While I certainly did not want to include the word 'Covid' in this holiday message, I do want to take a moment to reiterate that we're maintaining our approach, with respect to the size of this district, to handle each situation as it arises, with no plans to alter district-wide operations."

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District in Union County didn't fully commit to a decision for the New Year but Superintendent Dr. Joan Mast did say schools will stay open until winter break.

"The data supports keeping Scotch-Plains Fanwood schools open until winter break begins on Friday, December 24. Any changes to the district schedule would be made in conjunction with the Department of Health and only after careful consideration. We know how important it is for our schools to be open for our students. We aim to provide a safe and uninterrupted learning environment – those goals go hand-in-hand," said Mast.

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