Phil Murphy (D), New Jersey, says that under certain circumstances, schools are allowed to operate completely remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, after spending months in person classes.
Murphy made the announcement on Wednesday, while also announcing an executive order allowing K-12 schools, colleges and universities to immediately resume personal learning.
Under the new guidelines, schools will have to explain why they failed to meet state health and safety standards to open up individuals and they are required to produce a timeline for addressing these issues.
“There is no one major who is planning for this very difficult situation,” Murphy said at a news conference. “We are fully committed to getting this right … Every student who chooses to continue learning at a distance must be accommodated.”
The move comes after several district school districts decided to hold classes online for the rest of the year.
The board of Elizabeth, the school district of NJ moved Monday to take classes entirely online, a decision that presumably came after several teachers opted for person classes on health care.
“It became fruitless to continue trying to do what was impossible. That they would spend the next five weeks doing distance learning as best they could,” said Pat Politano, a spokesman for the school district. CBS News.
Politano added that the school district is working to close similar gaps in online learning, a concern that has been raised on both sides of the aisle.
“This is a working class and a low-income community, but their children are entitled to equal education, and we will work like hell to see that they get that,” he said.
President Trump
Donald John TrumpDemocrat calls on White House to take back ambassador to Belarus nominated TikTok to collect data from mobile devices to track Android users: Peterson report wins Minnesota House primarily in crucial swing district MORE has called for schools to reopen nationwide, although most of those decisions are made at state and local levels.
The president has insisted that children are not as negatively affected by COVID-19 as other populations. But other health experts have noted children may still catch the virus and pass it on to more vulnerable individuals.
Updated: 3:05 p.m.
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