Bergen County Technical Schools Delay In-Person Start

PARAMUS, NJ — In a letter to the Bergen County Technical School District community, Superintendent Howard Lerner made an educated guess.

"This has certainly not been a typical 'summer recess' for any of us," he said.

No kidding.

For students, parents and guardians of the district, that oddity will continue, as Lerner announced that, following Gov. Phil Murphy's Executive Order allowing remote learning, the district will do just that.

"On August 13, 2020, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order No. 175, which allowed school

districts to delay the resumption of in-person instruction, and start the 2020-2021 school year
on full remote instruction, in order to fully implement the health and safety components of their 're-opening plans,'" said Lerner.

"The BCTS school district will utilize this flexibility and delay the start of in-person instruction in our schools until October 19."

Though he acknowledged that all districts faced challenges in preparing for the start of this unique school year, he added that BCTS, given the nature of the district, faced their own brand.

"The challenges have been daunting for all NJ school districts. Not surprisingly, the special instructional focus of BCTS, and the student population it serves, have presented us with additional, unique complexities to address," he said.

Lerner expanded on those challenges in the letter to the district, stating that staffing, personal protective equipment and indoor air quality all stood out as concerns for starting in-person instruction in September.

On Staffing:

"Our school district needs additional time to complete an interactive process with individual staff members who are seeking job accommodations based on such preexisting conditions. Staff members with school-age children of their own will also face unavoidable conflicts between their BCTS work schedules and the remote learning schedules of their children’s schools. Absences resulting from staff members who are unable to return to on-site assignments, or unable to return full-time, when our schools reopen will then require the recruitment and employment of coverage staffing," said Lerner.

On PPE:

"The availability of various types of PPE fluctuates, with some that our schools require being scarce and difficult to acquire. Depending on circumstances, gloves, gowns, head coverings,

face shields or other eye protection and/or enhanced face coverings may be required. Our district ordered much of the PPE we will need for the new school year towards the end of the last school year, and many items are still on back order. We will continue to locate and purchase items in quantities that will allow our schools to operate safely and continuously once they reopen for in-person instruction," said Lerner.

On Indoor Air Quality:

"The district’s operations and maintenance staff have worked to meet the requirements of the

Department of Education’s The Road Back, Restart and Recovery Plan for Education. In an effort to promote a higher level of safety for our students and staff, the district engaged licensed HVAC engineers for further guidance. Upon their recommendation, the district instituted a plan to install needlepoint bipolar ionization to district buildings capable of handling such systems. Needlepoint bipolar ionization is a proven technology used to eliminate viruses and improve air quality. Its popularity, and thus the demand for these systems, has created a delay in their shipment to our district. The district’s virtual start will give us additional time to receive and install these units to our facilities," said Lerner.

By waiting for PPE back orders, as well as insuring that indoor air quality is the best it can be, Lerner said the schools "will be better positioned to reopen for in-person instruction, and remain open, if we start the 2020-2021 school year on fully remote instruction."

Starting Oct. 19, hybrid learning will be instituted with students separated into cohorts in an alternating A/B weekly schedule.

Fewer students on site, the district said, will make it easier for students in the building to properly social distance.