Millburn Kids May Get Virtual Lessons During Coronavirus Closings

MILLBURN, NJ — Millburn Schools Superintendent Christine Burton advised parents through her newsletter on Friday that schools must follow new Department of Education guidelines posted at the end of the week regarding closing the schools for the novel coronavirus.

She also said that if kids must stay home, they may still get an education through "virtual learning" and it would count toward the state-mandated 180 days of school. "We are making preparations in the district for this possibility," she wrote.

She noted that the state Department of Education published a notice Friday with Guidance Regarding Requirements for Public Health-Related School Closure. They wrote, "Any day in which students impacted by a public health-related closure have access to home instruction services...will count as a day in which the Board of Education has provided public school facilities toward its compliance with the 180-day requirement."

Burton noted, "Assistant Superintendent Kate Diskin is coordinating with administrators, technology staff, and supervisors to facilitate plans for virtual learning in the event of a school closing. These plans are still in the development process at the district level. No school-level plans have been approved."

Among other guidelines, she also wrote, "We will be following the rules from the CDC regarding those countries that have been labeled as Level 3 (widespread, ongoing transmission): China, Iran, Italy, South Korea. We are asking all families and staff to inform us if anyone in their immediate family has recently traveled to China, South Korea, Iran or Italy. This includes siblings/children who have returned from study abroad."

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

Four people in New Jersey had been diagnosed with novel coronavirus as of Friday night.

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