Westfield Mayor Brindle Responds To Limited On-Site Schooling

WESTFIELD, NJ — In local school districts where kids are not back in school yet, particularly five days per week, frustration is mounting among parents. At Tuesday night's Westfield Board of Education meeting, many parents criticized the district for not getting kids in school daily at a faster rate.

Earlier this month, Superintendent Margaret Dolan responded to parents' frustrations in two messages. READ MORE: Westfield Parents: We Want More On-Site School Days

At the virtual school board meeting Tuesday, which was attended by 600 parents according to TAPinto, Dolan said kindergarten through second grade students can return five days a week starting March 15, kindergarteners for 2.5 hours daily and the other two grades for 4 hours. She said the decisions are based on coronavirus trends. But some feel it's not enough.

Mayor Shelley Brindle released a message Thursday morning responding to the comments and letters she said she has received. She also referenced the health component.

She wrote:

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Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me expressing their concerns regarding remote learning for our students.

As a parent of a WHS tenth grader, I am personally aware of the toll this pandemic is taking on our students, as is the Town Council, five of whom also have kids in the public schools. First and foremost, I would like to emphasize that we all agree on the need to get our students back for additional in-person days in the safest way possible. Like many other parents, I am particularly concerned about the K-5 and other vulnerable students who are most challenged with hybrid learning, and am encouraged to hear about the coming increase in school days for K-2. I agree that we need to leverage all possible resources and strategies to identify a path to five in-person school days a week.

As you know, the Mayor and Town Council don’t have oversight of the schools, but I do remain in regular contact with Dr. Dolan and members of the BOE. On this important matter that concerns so many residents, we are committed to being part of the solution to the extent our jurisdiction allows. I have continued to offer whatever support the Town can provide to assist, including making available both private and public facilities for additional classroom space if helpful. I have also personally advocated with the Governor’s office to prioritize teacher vaccinations, and will continue to do so.

However, since the Board of Education operates independently of the Town, I am not privy to the complex challenges they face in reopening from an operational standpoint, and therefore I am limited in my ability to offer specific solutions, especially if they are staffing related. I do know from my experience in municipal government that tough situations require innovative thinking, ongoing communication, and community collaboration in order to find the best way forward.

As part of this ongoing discussion, I want to reiterate my full confidence in the Regional Health Department, the members of which have done an extraordinary and nearly impossible job over the past year facing unprecedented circumstances. Regional Health Officer Megan Avallone, who also serves on the Executive Committee and as past president of the New Jersey Association of County and City Health Officials, speaks frequently with Dr. Dolan and the medical staff in the Westfield schools -- a practice she maintains in each of the eight municipalities she supports. Her input is provided as counsel to each municipality’s school officials so they are able to ultimately make informed decisions regarding school operations with which they are tasked.

In fact, in the municipalities that comprise the Westfield Regional Health Department, the school boards have arrived at a variety of solutions, ranging from Fanwood and Roselle Park, who started fully remote and only recently transitioned to hybrid; to Westfield, who has been hybrid from day one; and to Chatham and Summit, where elementary students receive five half days of instruction — all derived from the same Health Department data sets and guidance from Megan’s team.

I point this out to underscore that public health information is just one of many components involved in a complicated situation, and the ultimate decision resides with each Superintendent based upon what they believe is in the best interest of their school community.

Regarding Tuesday night’s BOE meeting, I have received some questions about why we held a Town Council meeting on the same night. As a reminder, both the Town Council and the Board of Education vote on their full-year meeting schedules in January of each year, with some meetings occurring on the same night. After we adjourned, I spent the remainder of my evening and much of Wednesday reading many of the emails I received and comments posted online about the schools, and I understand and appreciate how frustrated parents are. Yet I am also aware that solutions are never as simple as they appear, and I will continue to reiterate that the town is committed to playing whatever productive role we can in getting our kids in school more frequently and as quickly and safely as possible.

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See Westfield's latest coronavirus numbers and trends here.

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