South Brunswick Students Prefer Delayed Start To In-Person Class

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Many South Brunswick students would prefer the school district reopening on Jan. 19 as opposed to Nov. 16. These views were put forward by student representative Zoya Khurram, at Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting.

According to a survey conducted by Khurram, 91 percent students said they wanted the district to resume in-person classes on Jan. 19, while others preferred the Nov. 16 date. At the time, a little over 204 students had responded to the survey. Most respondents were high schoolers.

Students cited two primary reasons for delaying in-person classes – they did not want to wake up early and health concerns.

“While it does seem superficial, it’s not,” said Khurram, explaining why students preferred to sleep in.

“Getting this sleep is making it a lot easier to be on Zoom for the amount of hours that we do have to be on it. They (students) are very concerned if they have to wake up at 7:30 a.m., they are going to have to readjust all over again after months of waking up at a later time,” she said.

On March 11, the school district moved to remote learning due to the pandemic. They began the school year virtually this September, with the district initially planning to pivot to the hybrid model on Nov. 16.

Read More Here: South Brunswick To Begin School Year With Remote Learning

Students said they have already settled into a routine and their mental health is better as they are able to balance academics and extracurricular activities.

They also expressed concern for the quality of education if they move to the hybrid mode. "How are teachers going to teach in-person and virtual at the same time?” asked Khurram.

Students told the Board they didn’t want their peer getting sick, as they fear reopening could lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases among the school-going population.

Khurram said students have been tracking COVID numbers in the state and county and "wondering why are we going back now when cases have not decreased.”

Meanwhile, the students who opted for the hybrid model said they missed social interaction which greatly affected their mental health. “There is a direct correlation between social interaction and mental health,” said Khurram.

School Superintendent Scott Feder thanked students for their answers saying, “All of you are right.”

Feder acknowledged that everyone has handled the pandemic differently and coming back to school buildings will be a challenge.

So far 83 percent parents and guardians have completed the new reentry form, and based on those number, very few have opted for in-person classes. A better picture will emerge once all the forms have been submitted.

Feder presented his plan for the tentative Nov. 16 reopening, saying middle and high school students will be divided into two groups. These groups will attend in-person classes on alternate days.

“You’re not going to get a lot of kids in classes, and that’s very helpful as far as safety goes. But the question we are trying to grapple with is – what does that look like for the class? We believe that’s manageable. But we want the best - so we have to figure that out,” said Feder.

The district will then reassess the situation by the first week of December.

Feder and Jennifer Diszler, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and administration, presented the district's plan during the meeting.

The Board is scheduled to make a final decision next week.

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