New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced Friday that the state will give parents the option to choose “remote learning” for their children for the upcoming school year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Murphy, in a tweet on Friday, wrote: “Today, @NewJerseyDOE is publishing a guide to make it clear that school districts should allow parents the option to choose remote learning for their children for the upcoming school year as part of his reopening of plans. “
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Murphy shared a graphic that said, “Parents and guardians have the option to choose totally remote learning for their children for the upcoming school year.”
“Our top priority is to keep students, their families and educators safe,” Murphy tweeted. “To do that, flexibility, local decision making, and the empowerment of parents and educators are critical.”
Murphy went on to say that parents who have the option to choose entirely remote learning for their children “will help decrease student density” within schools, and allow classroom spaces to be “more stretched” and “secure a Adequate social distancing for other students and staff. “
Murphy emphasized that the orientation, which the state Department of Education launched on Friday, is giving districts “even greater flexibility.”
“We are not demanding any specific way to move forward,” he added.
Murphy noted that the new school year is just “six weeks away,” and said the state will continue to follow public health data for the rest of July and August.
He said the state will continue to evaluate the “realities” of the COVID-19 virus and how it “can affect the plans of schools in general.”
“We will make changes in real time if necessary,” he said.
Murphy’s announcement comes as states across the country begin to reimagine what the 2020-2021 school year will be like amid the coronavirus pandemic. Regions has begun introducing plans that offer a part-time remote learning option, with the other part of the week in the classroom.
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As of Friday, New Jersey reported more than 180,000 positive cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and more than 15,700 deaths.
