Toms River Schools To Unveil District's Reopening Plan

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River parents and staff will get a look at the plans for the 2020-2021 school year in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic during a special meeting of the Toms River Regional Board of Education Wednesday.

The meeting is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. with an executive session beforehand. It is being held virtually because the state continues to limit indoor gatherings to 100 people or 25 percent of a room's capacity, whichever figure is less. The school reopening plans have drawn intense interest and would likely result in a packed auditorium at Toms River High School North.

The meeting will be livestreamed on the district's YouTube channel (click here). Members of the public will be able to call in to ask questions and comment on the plans; the phone number will be provided on the screen once the meeting begins.

"You must include your full name and home address when your call is answered. Public comment is limited to 3 minutes per person," the meeting announcement said.

Superintendent David Healy, who will address the plans during his superintendent's report, has repeatedly pointed out that the plans are tentative and dependent on what rules are put in place by the state Department of Education.

"We're very careful to speak about these are tentative plans because our experience to date with this COVID issue since March has been the rules change daily if not hourly," Healy said earlier in July. Read more: Toms River Schools' Tentative Fall Reopening Plans Evolving

Gov. Phil Murphy announced that New Jersey schools could resume in-person instruction in September, provided their district creates a safety plan approved by their school board. But there are significant concerns from parents and from teachers and staff about the safety issues, as the infection rate has risen in recent days. The New Jersey Education Association issued a statement Tuesday urging a delay in the start of in-person classes because of the concerns.

The initial guidelines in the education department's "The Road Back" have seen changes, including the move by Murphy last week to allow school districts to go fully remote with instruction. Read more: NJ To Offer Remote-Learning Option For Schools Amid Coronavirus

"I use the term 'the here-and-now,' " Healy said. "We're developing plans based on what we know in the here-and-now, knowing full well that the here-and-now changes."

"All of our discussions in the planning stages include Plan A-B-C-D and so on because we fully expect things to change by the time school starts in September, if it does start in September, which I highly doubt. I doubt the school year will start for districts in September," he said.

The district is making plans and purchases, however. On the agenda for the meeting is an updated school calendar that would push the first day for students to Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day, to provide three days of professional development to start the year.

Also on the agenda for approval is the purchase of hand sanitizer dispensers, hand sanitizer and batteries for the dispensers. The cost: $176,656.33.

Healy has said the safety measures needed may make reopening classrooms a little over a month from now cost-prohibitive. Face masks, which the state requires the district to provide, could cost nearly $1 million.

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