Summit Parents Petition To Open Schools Full Time

SUMMIT, NJ — Parents around the state are getting increasingly frustrated with limited hours of on-site learning in various school districts. They've been forming new groups and speaking out this week, including in Summit, Westfield, and Maplewood.

Gov. Phil Murphy briefly addressed the controversy on Wednesday, saying, when asked about the districts in the state struggling to reopen five days per week, “I don’t blame anyone for their frustration and stress, and it’s legitimate on all sides of this.”

And Assemblywoman Mila Jasey, vice-chair of the Assembly Education Committee and a former member of the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education, released a long statement about reopening schools in the state.

Jasey said that last summer, a "one-size-fits-all plan" to open had been considered by the New Jersey Department of Education, but "the diversity of our state’s 584 operating school districts cannot be underestimated or discounted."

She said there are two things districts need to reopen schools fully: vaccines for teachers, and "demonstrated ventilation adequacy in interior spaces where windows cannot be opened as the weather improves."

Jasey noted that Gov. Phil Murphy plans to include teachers in the next round of those eligible for vaccines.

Summit parent group

Parents in Summit are also asking for more on-site learning, and benchmarks for when that could happen.

A petition started by parents in Summit has received more than 290 signatures.

Juan and Laura Mahecha forwarded a letter to Patch that they sent to Superintendent Scott Hough this week, saying, "On February 11 I contacted the Summit BOE to inquire if there is a detailed checklist of metrics or requirements that would provide clarity and transparency, manage expectations as well as be used to track progress towards the goal of having students back at school full-time. While I appreciate BOE President Ms. Miller’s replies, they are vague, and none directly answer the questions."

The petition is meant to ask the superintendent "to begin communications to discuss: What will it take to reopen Summit NJ schools full-time? The petition requests that this topic be added to the March 11 BOE meeting agenda to review the impediments to reopening public schools fully so they can be explicitly communicated and assessed for solutions."

The petitioning parents made two requests of Hough:

• Provide transparency by gathering and communicating the prerequisites to attain full day, full week in-person learning for those who choose it.
• Add the topic for public review and discussion to the March 11 school board meeting agenda.

They cited other districts that are problem-solving to reopen fully rather than on hybrid or remote education.

It was nearly a year ago, on March 12, that the Summit schools — perhaps having a better sense about the longevity of the crisis than others — announced they would close for one month.

Some have no on-site school

Reopening has been a mixed bag across the state. Some districts have had school five days a week with precautions in place. But the nearby South Orange-Maplewood schools have endured a series of setbacks. Students there attended school for only one week in January before the teachers refused to return. Read more about that here: Maplewood Schools Are Now Remote Indefinitely

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