Youngest Students Head To School As Toms River Moves To Hybrid

TOMS RIVER, NJ — It's not the start to school that parents envisioned, but on Monday, the Toms River Regional School District welcomed its youngest learners into the district's buildings.

Wearing masks and with roughly half of their classmates as they would see under normal circumstances, the preschoolers, kindergarteners and first-graders had in-person classes for the first time in the 2020-21 school year. On Tuesday, the other half of those students will be in the classrooms for the first time this year.

It was a first step in a return to the buildings that many parents have been clamoring for since the district announced Aug. 13 that the school year would start with remote instruction for nearly all students, due to staffing issues.

"It was a beautiful thing to see children back in their classrooms and in the hallways today, and I’m so proud of how our teachers and staff have made this transition smooth and safe," Superintendent David Healy said in a news release.

The move to hybrid instruction for the district's more than 15,000 students happened as district staff and administrators and parents raised concerns about the youngest children struggling with online learning. At the Sept. 9 school board committee meetings — the second day of the school year — several parents spoke out about children, particularly kindergarteners, spending nearly six hours in front of a computer screen.

A week later, at the school board's business meeting, the district said it would move to hybrid instruction — what it calls blended learning —sooner rather than later. That meant notifying staff members who sought accommodations for child care or medical concerns about family members they had to make arrangements to return to the classroom, to ensure enough staff.

More than 400 staff members sought accommodations for medical and child-care issues initially; of those, more than 170 sought medical accommodations due to their own health or that of a family member, Assistant Superintendent Cara DiMeo said. Staff members with health issues had to present documentation to continue to work remotely, and will have to meet the rules set out by the CARES Act.

Staff members who sought accommodations due to family members' health issues will have to take a leave of absence if they don't want to return to the classroom. Child care accommodations are ending as of Oct. 30.

Monday was Phase 2 of the district's reopening plan, which it calls #TRSafeReturn. Phase 3, which the district announced in a letter from Healy to parents last Friday, calls for second- through fifth-graders to return begin a hybrid schedule as of Oct. 25. Sixth-graders through high school seniors would shift to hybrid classes as of Nov. 9, Healy said.

Finding enough substitute teachers has been part of the issue; statewide, a shortage of substitutes forced other schools to shift to remote learning to start. Healy said the Ocean Township School District in Monmouth County was struggling even though it offered $250 per day.

The hybrid classes have students divided in two groups by last name — roughly A-L and M-Z — with one group attending four-hour days Mondays and Wednesdays and the other Tuesdays and Thursdays, with remote learning on the days they are not in the buildings. Some parents chose to have their children attend a fully remote schedule, the district has said. Teachers are in the buildings for the full school day, which includes about two hours after the in-person classes end to help the students in their class who are remote on a given day.

The move to the hybrid learning also averted what was anticipated to be layoffs of more than 240 school district employees — primarily bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and bus and cafeteria aides — who were not working while the district was on a nearly fully remote schedule. Special education students with needs for physical, occupational and behavioral therapies have been attending in person since Sept. 8.

"We implemented this plan because it was the safest for our staff and students, and made the most sense for this community," Healy said Monday, after visiting schools to see how the return was working. "Throughout it all we haven’t wavered, and have provided resources and constant communication along the way. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you have a supportive and understanding school board, an engaged community of families, and a staff full of dedicated, hard-working people."

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