Gov. Phil Murphy is urging
more school districts across New Jersey to reopen, one year to the day that all
of the Garden State’s schools made the change to all-remote learning.
After a year of reopenings
and closings, the governor says he wants to see even more of the state's
students back in classrooms in some capacity soon -- whether that be fully
in-person or a hybrid system.
Currently, 142 districts are
open for all in-person learning, which covers more than 107,000 students – 843,000 students in 534 districts
are using a hybrid method, 317,000 students in 98 districts have yet to return
to a classroom, and 37 districts serving more than 85,000 are using some sort
of a combination of the three methods.
Gov. Murphy says it will be
best for both students and teachers to get back inside of classrooms.
"We know there are
students across our state who have fallen behind due to the burden and stress
of remote learning and it is time to stem this tide before more students follow
way,” says Gov. Murphy. “A full year out of their classrooms is not how
students move forward or how our world-class
extraordinary educators move forward in
their professions for that matter."
While districts work to
finish this school year with some in-person learning, the governor pointed out
the next school year is less than six months away. By then, he
expects all of the
state's schools to be fully open for in-person learning.