SOMSD announces phases 4 and 5 to reopen for in-person learning

SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — South Orange–Maplewood School District Superintendent Ronald Taylor announced the plan for the next two phases of the district’s reopening plan, as the district gets ready to continue with the third phase of hybrid instruction. Students in kindergarten through second grade, and in sixth and ninth grades have returned to school buildings on a rotating basis for hybrid learning, though they are currently in all-remote learning through April 16 for the post–spring break precautionary period. On April 19, all grades will return to the school buildings for hybrid learning.

“We want to give our families who opted in recently a chance for their students to become acquainted with all of our mitigation strategies as we return from our COVID-19 shutdown,” Taylor said in the video announcement. “This also of course includes our cohort C students: the special services students, ELL students, pull-out replacement and self-contained students.”

Phase 4 will be a transition phase from April 26 to 30. At the elementary school level, students in grades three through five will remain all virtual, and students in K-2 will go to school in person for all five days of the week, doing away with the rotating cohorts, and will follow an early dismissal schedule. Virtual Fridays will be discontinued, but students who opt for remote learning will still sign in for virtual instruction. Cohort consolidation will be possible because of social-distancing guidelines that have been changed to allow for only 3 feet of space between students in elementary school, as announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lunch and snacks will not be served.

At Maplewood and South Orange middle schools, eighth-graders will join sixth-graders at the school buildings and continue with early dismissals and virtual Fridays; seventh-graders will continue virtual learning. Special-education students will continue going to school four days a week. The same will happen at Columbia High School: Seniors will join the freshmen in the building four days a week in cohorts, with sophomores and juniors continuing to learn virtually.

“Our sixth-graders and eighth-graders, our ninth-graders and our 12th-graders who are joining us on April 26 will still have a cohort methodology,” Taylor said. “That’s due to the social-distancing requirements.”

Middle and high school students will still need to remain 6 feet apart, as per CDC guidelines.

The fifth phase of the reopening plan covers May 3 through June 24, the end of the school year. At the elementary schools, students in third, fourth and fifth grade will join the younger students in one consolidated group. The schedule will remain with half days and no lunch; students who choose to remain all-virtual can do so.

During the same phase, students in seventh, 10th and 11th grades will return to the buildings. SOMS, MMS and CHS will continue to operate on the cohort schedule to make room for 6-foot social distancing, and virtual Fridays will continue.

“I have to emphasize that our departments of health meet very often with our team members; they’re monitoring closely the community spread of COVID-19,” Taylor said. “They’re also monitoring how the reopening of schools has an impact on our community spread. If all goes well, Phase 5 will begin on May 3 and continue for the final eight weeks of our school year.”

In Taylor’s announcement presentation, he said that, in order to ensure social distancing, desks or barriers will likely be required for classrooms that normally have less traditional seating. Social-distancing requirements could require a creative use of space for some schools.

The final phase of the plan will be to reopen completely on a normal schedule with all students in the building in person. Currently, that is planned for the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year in September, based on Gov. Phil Murphy’s state mandates.

“Again, this is all based on the guidance we are receiving at the local and state level,” Taylor said. “We ask that everyone still mitigate, still wear your mask to make sure that our COVID numbers stay at a point where we can move forward with our plan.”

  COVID-19, FEATURED, Ronald Taylor, South Orange–Maplewood School District