NJ school districts fear post-holiday COVID spike. Some will be remote well into January

Gov. Phil Murphy may be touting New Jersey's school reopenings as a success story, but some of the state's biggest districts are hitting the panic button. 

With the spike in COVID-19 cases and the potential for further spread over the holidays, a growing number of districts – Newark, Paterson, Clifton, Hackensack and Garfield among them – have canceled in-person learning until at least January, consigning thousands of students to remote classes.  

"We are very concerned about the increase, the news that we are in Phase II of this pandemic," said Marie Blistan, president of the New Jersey Education Association, a union representing teachers and other school professionals.

"If the state goes into another uptick as we did before, I don’t think there's any question on what the state and governor will have to do with health and safety," she said, noting that Murphy "did put health and safety first back in March when schools shut down."

Blistan did not call for a statewide shutdown at this point but said that could change if the state reaches a "critical mass" – like what New Jerseyans experienced in March.

The state Department of Health this week said it's tallied 192 COVID cases linked to 51 outbreaks in New Jersey's 3,000 schools. Outbreaks refer to two or more infections linked to a school building or school activities.

Those numbers come amid a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases that's washing through the Garden State as well, what health officials have called a dangerous second wave of the pandemic. On Thursday, there were 3,517 new cases reported by the state, for a total of 266,986 since the crisis started in the spring.

Murphy announced new restrictions on indoor dining and school sporting events this week. But he reiterated on Thursday that there were no plans to reimpose the statewide shutdown of school buildings. The numbers so far show districts haven't become a breeding ground for infections, he said during a press conference. 

"We fully expected and prepared for in-school transmission," the governor said. "These numbers are a sign that those preparations to mitigate in-school spread are working. The numbers are lower than, I believe, any of us could have anticipated." 

"That's something that could happen," he said earlier in the day on NBC's "Today" Show. "But at the moment, back to school two months in has worked quite well. So far, so good."

Holiday fear 

That's left districts to make their own decisions on whether or not to shut down.

While state data suggests there's been relatively few school-based outbreaks, districts are still dealing with students and staff who may catch the virus elsewhere and threaten to bring the pandemic back with them. As a result, school officials have been juggling a flurry of contact tracing, quarantines, staff shortages and individual building closings this fall.

Some districts that had started with remote opening but planned to transition to some in-person learning have delayed those plans into 2021. Others opened, then shut within weeks as local cases rose in their towns and cities. 

Some districts are citing the Thanksgiving and December holidays as more reasons to keep students off campus. They worry that families will travel or gather with people outside their households, further propelling the wave of new cases.

Garfield announced Oct. 30 that it would shut until at least Jan. 25. "The holiday season is upon us and the spread of the virus is more likely to occur due to interstate travel, family gatherings, and indoor socializing, in-person instruction," Superintendent Anna Sciacca wrote in a letter to parents. 

Clifton also shifted to all-remote learning on Monday. Since reopening on Oct. 12, 23 students and 12 staff members have tested positive, 398 students and 105 staff members have been quarantined and four schools had temporary 14-day closures, Superintendent Danny Robertozzi said. 

Robertozzi cited a concern that families who participate in holiday travel could exacerbate the problem.  "We will reevaluate the situation in mid-January," he said.

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Paterson, Passaic, Dover and Boonton are also among districts across the state that will stay remote until late January, citing local cases and holidays as factors. Teaneck will also close at least through the end of the year and Hackensack schools are operating remotely "until further notice" due to the spread of the virus and recommendations from local health officials.

"Tough decisions are being made," said Teaneck school board president Ardie Walser. "We'll continue to consider recommendations from our health department and the governor's administration."

The district hoped to start a hybrid of in-person and remote learning next week. Sports and extra-curricular activities are still on but will be closely monitored by the school board and health department.

 "We have arguments on both sides for in-person and virtual learning," said Walser. "These next few months will be challenging."

When should NJ close schools?

In addition to New Jersey's own findings, some national and international health studies suggest the number of COVID-19 cases transmitted in schools has been low this fall and that they are not "superspreader" sites.

The low transmission rates come as schools adopt strict distancing measures, frequent cleanings and mask wearing. Most have shifted to hybrid learning, requiring students to come in on alternating days to keep numbers small. Others are dismissing early to avoid lunch crowds in cafeterias or telling students to eat at their desks.

It’s hard to say whether the relatively low number of cases traced to schools is a sign of success because of incomplete data, Stephanie Silvera, an epidemiologist and a professor of public health at Montclair State University, said in an interview last month.

Tracing the origin of infections can be difficult, she said. And there are no comprehensive figures for the total number of students attending school in person. New Jersey has nearly 1.4 million public school students, but many have opted to continue learning at home, an option that every district has to provide under state policy.

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Blistan, the teachers union president, said she was skeptical about rosy reports about COVID-19 in schools.

Some districts don't have nurses in all buildings and lack hospital-grade masks to protect against the virus. Others have not been able to make needed ventilation improvements in buildings, she said, noting that a federal funding package for coronavirus aid to schools has stalled.

She's "alarmed" over the potential increased risk of infections during the winter as people spend more time indoors with windows shut or gather with relatives over the holidays.

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New Jersey guidance directs schools to base closing decisions on a regional risk matrix that categorizes the danger as low, moderate, high or very high based on case rates, COVID-like illnesses and the rate of positive test results. Every week, the Department of Health provides information and characterizes risk at at the regional level.

Last week, all regions were considered to be in moderate risk. When regions are in the very high-risk category, it is recommended that they implement fully remote learning. 

“Any decision restricting in-person learning at schools statewide would be based on health data and guidance from experts in the health and education fields," said Christine Lee, a spokeswoman for the governor. 

Staff writer Isaiah McCalI contributed to this report.

Hannan Adely is an education and diversity reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: adely@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @adelyreporter