Virtual instruction to end in June
Vernon. Gov. Phil Murphy’s Executive Order 175 that allowed virtual instruction in schools will end with the current academic year. There will be no online-only component beginning in 2021-22. Districts also must sent “Safe Return Plans” to the state through September 2023.
| 24 May 2021 | 05:36
New Jersey students will be back in school in September.
Executive Order 175, which allowed the state’s school districts to allow virtual instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic will end at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, and there be no virtual option available in September, Vernon Township School District Superintendent Karen D’Avino announced at last Thursday’s Board of Education meeting.
The school board passed hiring of teachers to conduct summer programs at all the district schools, which will be paid out of a federal ESSR II grant, and D’Avino said those programs will take on greater importance as transition programs to acclimate remote students back into school.
“We will be monitoring those over the summer,” she said.
Districts also need to send “Safe Return Plans” to the state Dept. of Education by June 24. These plans must be approved by the Board of Education in June and may be revised every six months. However, there will be no loss of funding if the district’s actions are not aligned with the plan.
The plans also are required through September 2023.
“That tells me we have quite a way to go before we’re fully back to normal,” D’Avino said.
