Returning To School In Newark: What Will It Look Like?

NEWARK, NJ — What will Newark public schools look like when students return this fall? That's still up in the air – but the district is working on it.

Recently, Gov. Phil Murphy laid out a plan to reopen schools across New Jersey after the state's coronavirus shutdown. Murphy said New Jersey schools can resume in-person instruction in September, provided their district creates a safety plan approved by their school board. But he also said he'll pull the plug on reopening if cases go up again.

Many teachers have since issued a cry for better job protections, worrying that a return to the classroom could endanger educators and children alike. READ MORE: Should New Jersey Schools Reopen This Fall? Take Our Survey

Students return for their first day of class in Newark’s public schools on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

In Newark, home to the state's largest school system, the district has already assembled a reopening task force that offered dozens of recommendations related to school operations, teaching, remote learning, and ways to support staff members and students. And even before the state issued its guidance, Newark officials indicated that students will have to wear masks and may need to attend school in shifts or on alternating days, Chalkbeat reported.

Big hurdles remain in Newark, including limited access to technology among many families. The district will need to purchase about 10,000 additional laptops in order for every student to have one, as the state guidelines recommend.

• See related article: Newark District Braces For Budget Crunch When Schools Reopen

Many families remain wary of the health risks of in-person learning. More than 80 percent of Newark parents say they’re concerned about their children returning to school, according to a recent poll of 416 Newark adults, Chalkbeat reported.

• See related article: NJ Schools Will Reopen With Masks, Other Safety Measures

More clues about what school will look like in Newark this fall may be gleaned from the district’s limited summer school program.

Amid the ongoing national debate, some districts have quietly reopened classrooms for summer school. That has not always gone smoothly. Summer programs in Connecticut and Iowa were suspended after individuals tested positive for COVID-19 or recorded elevated temperatures, a symptom of the illness. And in Detroit, dozens of protestors — including teachers — blocked buses from picking up students for summer school, citing fears about the health risks of in-person classes, Chalkbeat reported.

Newark has taken pains to avoid such a backlash. Unlike in Detroit, where a couple thousand students opted for in-person summer school, only a few dozen students were given that option in Newark in an effort to keep the pilot program small and manageable. And, crucially, the in-person experiment has the support of the Newark Teachers Union, whose president said he proposed the idea to the district as a way to work out any kinks before schools reopen on a wider scale, Chalkbeat reported.

"You make a mistake now, you affect one teacher and maybe five or six kids in a classroom," said NTU President John Abeigon, adding that it's easier to isolate and contain infections among small numbers of people. "You make that same mistake in September with 38,000 kids and 3,800 instructional personnel, that's major — there could be major ramifications."

The Newark school district originally said all programs this summer would be virtual. But after the state announced last month that summer programs could take place in person if they met new safety standards, the district decided to pilot the two in-person sites while the majority of students took online classes, Chalkbeat reported.

Teachers and families at First Avenue and Thirteenth Avenue schools (and a few others that send students to those sites during the summer) were given the choice between in-person and online programs. During virtual meetings, Superintendent Roger León explained the safety protocols at the in-person sites.

That was enough to persuade Alimata Bila to send her six-year-old daughter, Grace, to Thirteenth Avenue's in-person program, Chalkbeat reported.

"I said, OK, she has stayed home long enough, since March. I want her to go out and be with other kids and have fun," said Bila, who has been working from home the past several months while caring for her one-year-old son and trying to supervise her daughter's virtual lessons.

"Learning from home is not the same thing as coming to school every day, getting to interact with other kids and the teacher," she said. "Those teachers went to school and received training for that — I did not."

• See related article: Can Newark Reopen Schools Safely? Summer Pilot Offers Trial Run

This article contains reporting from Chalkbeat

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