COVID Spike Forces Entire Grade Virtual At This New Jersey School

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The South Brunswick School District has moved sixth-graders from Crossroads North to online learning amid a spike in COVID-19 cases among students.

The students will be learning remotely beginning Thursday through Oct. 20. During this time, they will also be excluded from all sports and in-person after-school clubs and activities. Crossroads North has a total of 315 sixth-graders.

In a letter to the parents and guardians on Wednesday, School Superintendent Scott Feder said the decision to pivot to virtual learning was made “in the best interests” of students.

“We have been monitoring a spike in the number of 6th graders testing positive at Crossroads North Middle School and while it did appear to be slowing down, between yesterday and today we saw a slight resurgence,” Feder said. “Rather than guessing and hoping that this will end on its own, we believe taking this week will go a long way to keeping our students and staff safe.”

According to data from the school district, the spike in COVID-19 cases began on Oct. 1, and as of Wednesday, 15 students from 6th grade have tested positive. Prior to Oct. 1, only two positive cases were reported among students in that grade.

After working with the Health Department for guidance, the district felt they have “hit a critical point.” While students going remote will not miss instruction and are scheduled to return on Oct. 21, "If however data continues to come in that shows it is in the best interest of our students to remain closed for a longer period of time, we will reach out though that is not our intention,” Feder said.

Although there are interactions between 7th and 8th graders on the bus and other common spaces, the district said they were not seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases in those grades. "This coupled with the high vaccination rate of our eligible 7th and 8th graders leads us to not seeing a need to close down those grades,” Feder said.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 outbreaks in school districts across the state continue to climb. Last week, 69 COVID-19 outbreaks were reported since the beginning of the school year.

On Wednesday, Oct. 13, New Jersey reported 27 new COVID-19 outbreaks this past week.

From Oct. 5 to 11 there were 27 new COVID-19 outbreaks at New Jersey schools impacting 125 students and 17 staff members, Gov. Phil Murphy said.

Read More Here:

69 COVID Outbreaks Reported At NJ Schools Since September

NJ Schools See 27 New COVID Outbreaks In The Past Week

Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said that 70.1 percent of 16 and 17-year-olds received at least the first dose of the vaccine. Yet, only 57.1 percent of children ages 12 to 15 are vaccinated. "We need to improve that," Persichilli said.

The vaccine is expected to be available for the younger population soon. The FDA is expected to approve the shot for kids as early as Halloween or by early November.

Read More: NJ Should Prep Kids' COVID Vaccine Distribution: White House

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