BARNEGAT – The Barnegat Township School District has announced a reopening plan for the upcoming school year.
The plan includes two different learning options parents can choose for their children and numerous health and safety precautions that will be put in place.
R. James Barbiere, the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Human Resources, revealed the plan at the most recent Board of Education meeting. He explained that the goals of this plan are to expand the safety of students and staff through new procedures, maximize student outcomes in the academic and social-emotional domains, and to provide sustainable programs with the choice of in-person or fully virtual learning.
While constructing the reopening plan, the township collected community feedback to see how many families have devices and internet to use for online learning.
“It is important that 100 percent of the community have access to reliable internet and to devices,” Barbiere said.
The plan allows parents to choose from either Hybrid (in-person and virtual) or Full Virtual learning for students going to school in the fall.
Hybrid learning will consist of:
- Most students being divided into two cohorts:
- Either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday for in-person.
- Remote Extension Activity Day (R.E.A.D.) when not in-person.
- Planning to keep siblings together.
- Fridays virtual for all except at-risk students (ESL, BSI, etc.).
- Some Special Ed. programs run daily.
- Elementary cohorts designed to keep students with their friends (to address SEL concerns).
- 1:1 initiative for all students grades 7-12.
- All students enrolled in Google Classroom or ClassDOJO from day one.
Full Virtual Learning will consist of:
- Students assigned to classes with their peers, but participating remotely.
- Curriculum, instruction, and assessments are the same (to the greatest extent possible) as hybrid students.
The Barnegat School District is enforcing all staff and visitors to wear face masks. At the time of this meeting, students were strongly encouraged to wear a mask and were required to if social distancing could not be maintained. Students had the option to remove their mask while seated and properly social distancing.
However, in the days since this meeting, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that all students (except those with health issues) will wear masks throughout the day. He said this could change if the state’s numbers go down again.
Therefore, school plans are a moving target in some ways, since state regulations keep changing. Parents are encouraged to visit the district’s website for the most up-to-date information: barnegatschools.com/covid-19.
The district will be regulating procedures that if a staff member feels or if a student is suspected of symptoms then temperature checks will take place. If a staff member feels they have symptoms then they must report themselves.
If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, the response would include a shut down of the classroom, school building, or possibly the entire district depending on the number of confirmed cases.
