Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday public schools throughout the state will remain closed until at least May 15 as New Jersey continues to wrestle with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Murphy ordered the state’s more than 600 school districts to close last month as part of an effort to halt the spread of the virus. Neighboring Pennsylvania has closed schools through the rest of the year.
“Let me be perfectly clear. There is nobody who wants to open the schools more than I do … but I can’t do that right now. But I remain hopeful we can,” Murphy said during his daily briefing with other state officials.
Amid the pandemic and the remote instruction students have been undergoing since mid-March, high school seniors are at the front of educators’ and school officials’ minds.
In Hammonton, the seniors already lost their class trip, said Board of Education President Sam Mento. Luckily, the travel agent provided full refunds.
“We were going to Disney World March 20,” Mento said. “We canceled, and five hours later Walt Disney World closed.”
Now, he said the district is determined to give the seniors a graduation ceremony and prom — with graduation the No. 1 priority.
“We want to get in those things we all experienced and look back fondly on,” Mento said. “Even if it’s after blueberry season (late in the summer), we are going to have that graduation ceremony.”
Mento’s daughter is a junior, he said, and she has not been able to take her SATs on time. A home version of the college entrance exam is being prepared in case schools remain closed into the fall, the College Board said Wednesday.
Hammonton’s prom was going to be at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel next month.
“Our hope is to give the kids something — not the same as in the past, but we’ll probably have to do something locally if we are allowed,” he said.
Mento said everyone is grateful to the district’s food service workers, who have continued to feed 500 to 600 kids a week.
Atlantic County Vocational School District Superintendent Phil Guenther said Thursday it would be helpful to return before the end of the school year, but he appreciates the governor’s careful and incremental approach to reopening.
The Atlantic County Institute of Technology, the career and technical high school for almost 1,700 students, does not have a stadium. So it has traditionally held its graduation ceremonies indoors. One of the many alternatives Guenther is considering is arranging for an outdoor ceremony where social distancing rules can be better followed, if health officials say such gatherings can proceed.
The career and technical high school’s graduation was supposed to be June 18, “but if we are given the go-ahead after June 18, we will try to arrange some type of ceremony for graduating seniors,” he said, even if it is in late summer or the fall.
The ACIT prom was to be held at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City next month, but he said Harrah’s has said it will work with the school to move the date if needed.
Meanwhile, online learning is going well for ACIT’s 1,700 students and for the Atlantic County Special Services School’s 325 students, Guenther said. The transition is probably easier for ACIT than for many other schools, he said, since every incoming freshman gets a laptop and is used to online learning.
Even so, some routes of study, like auto mechanics and cosmetology, require hands-on practice, and the school may offer some type of summer instruction or additional instruction next fall.
Among the other things Murphy’s announcement leaves open-ended is the possibility of a resumption of the high school sports season. The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, the body that oversees high school sports in the state, says it is still prepared to have a spring season if classes resume.
“NJSIAA is committed to doing whatever is possible to provide New Jersey’s student-athletes with some type of spring season,” the association said in a statement. “We have models in place that allow for competition starting as late as May 25, but given the late start date, tournament play may not be viable. Our commitment to conclude the spring season no later than June 30 stands. As the governor noted, we remain hopeful.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
