SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood School District opened in a limited capacity on March 1, with English language learners across all grade levels, self-contained special education students and preschool students who have chosen hybrid instruction returning to the school buildings. Teachers for those students will teach in person from their classrooms. The announcement came from the district on Feb. 26, after a nine-hour mediation session with the South Orange–Maplewood Education Association the day before.
On Feb. 22, the South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education filed a verified complaint and order to show cause with the Chancery Division of the Superior Court, seeking an order to have the SOMEA return to in-person hybrid instruction and follow the grievance process, which was signed between the union and the district in January.
“The filing of this complaint does not derail the mediation process,” the announcement on the district website said about the court filing. “As previously indicated, pursuing mediation and a legal remedy are not mutually exclusive. While the board is hopeful that a voluntary agreement can be reached through mediation, the board also believes its unique reopening circumstances provide support for a legal remedy. As we are committed to the South Orange–Maplewood community’s message to increase in-person instruction, it is appropriate to pursue both avenues toward the goal of safe, healthy and reopened schools.”
The court order was filed after the SOMEA said its members would not return to in-person teaching on Feb. 15, hours after the announcement from the district that in-person classes would begin on Feb. 16. At the Feb. 22 BOE meeting, Superintendent Ronald Taylor made a statement in which he detailed the efforts that the administration has taken to make the buildings COVID-19 safe, including upgraded technology, cleaning supplies and improving the HVAC systems.
“Were things perfect? No. But we were flexible and SOMEA agreed that concerns could be addressed through our grievance process, but that was not allowed to continue to fruition. Our building administrators have been responsive to the needs put forward,” Taylor said. “While the district facilities are old, they are safe. Even in the best years, systems break down. It gets hot or cold in a room, and we take action to fix it. We’ve had poorer weather this year than the last three years combined, which is unfortunate. But because so few students are in the buildings and we have a sidebar agreement, principals were relocating a small population of teachers as needed on a daily basis to put them in suitable rooms. Just like with anything else, we had to prioritize our responses to complaints and grievances, and there needed to be some patience to allow our facilities staff time to look into the issues presented.”
In the Feb. 26 announcement about the opening on March 1, Taylor said the district is continuing mediation with the SOMEA in the hopes that all students and staff can return to hybrid learning as soon as possible.
State Assemblywoman Mila Jasey, who represents South Orange and Maplewood, made a statement about the dispute between the district and the union on Feb. 24.
“Universal school reopening is, in my view, dependent upon the availability of vaccinations for teachers and demonstrated ventilation adequacy in interior spaces where windows cannot be opened as the weather improves,” Jasey said. “Gov. Murphy has included teachers in the next vaccine-eligible group, and every report indicates that the supply chain will soon increase dramatically. I understand the frustration and ire of parents who want to see their children back in school and believe that most districts have worked tirelessly to provide as much in-person opportunity as they believe circumstances permit. Patience has been exhausted and COVID-fatigue is tangible. I have every confidence that conditions will continue to improve and schools will reopen as we find our way to at least a semblance of normalcy.”
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