Manchester Schools To Stay In Person In 2022: Superintendent

MANCHESTER, NJ — When classes resume Monday in the Manchester Township School District after winter break, students and staff members will be in the buildings, as they were before the holiday.

"Manchester plans to run our regular schedule for students and stay the course," Superintendent David Trethaway said.

Some New Jersey school districts have moved to remote instruction for the beginning of January as coronavirus infections and hospitalizations have jumped significantly in recent days. New Jersey has had more than 113,000 new infections reported since Dec. 23, and more than 1,500 new hospitalizations.

In Ocean County, there have been more than 4,500 new infections since Dec. 23, and 19 deaths. In Manchester, there have been 269 new infections reported and one person has died. (Manchester has had 377 residents die from complications of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.)

In a letter to staff, parents and students on Dec. 23, Trethaway shared numbers of positive cases among students and staff in December. The numbers "do not reflect the number of students that needed to be quarantined," he said, "but we have been fortunate in this situation as students wearing masks in the classroom are not identified as close contacts."

• Manchester Township Elementary School: 10 students and 0 staff members
• Ridgeway: 5 students and 5 staff members
• Whiting: 1 student and 1 staff member
• Middle School: 16 students and 2 staff members
• High School: 13 students and 1 staff member
• Regional Day: 0 students and 2 staff members

Trethaway said the district will be shortening quarantine times, following reduced quarantine requirements from the state Department of Education and Department of Health.

Before winter break, the state health department offered schools options to reduced the quarantine requirement for students identified as close contacts of someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

Trethaway said the Manchester schools would use the following guidelines; it was not clear if or how quickly the state health department might respond to the CDC's decision to reduce quarantines to five days for those without symptoms.

Acceptable options to shorten quarantine include:

1. 7-Day quarantine with testing. Unvaccinated people can end quarantine after Day 7 after receiving a negative COVID-19 test result collected between Day 5 and Day 7. Quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than after Day 7.

2. 10-Day quarantine without testing. Unvaccinated persons can end quarantine after Day 10 if they haven’t been tested for COVID-19.

Quarantine exceptions

1. Fully vaccinated individuals do not need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless they have symptoms. However, they should get tested 5-7 days after their exposure, wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following exposure or until their test result is negative, and get tested and isolate immediately if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.

2. Individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 with a viral test within the previous 90 days and have subsequently recovered and remain asymptomatic do NOT need to quarantine. However, they should wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days after exposure, self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms, isolate immediately if symptoms develop, and consult with a healthcare professional for testing recommendations.

Trethaway said the district would provide additional information after school resumes Monday.

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