Parents in Robbinsville are upset as the
high school temporarily shifts back to virtual learning due to a rise in COVID-19
cases.
A few dozen parents gathered in front of the high school Wednesday morning with signs in hand addressing the
temporary shift to virtual learning.
“Our ultimate goal is safety
for all but keep our kids in school as much as possible,” says parent
Danielle Desimone.
The district says it worked with the Health Department and state, and that
it made the decision to go virtual for a week to slow the spread as cases rise
in town and with unrelated clusters of cases in the high school.
“We cannot keep shutting the
school down on a Friday afternoon,” says parent Louise Shea. “You know I understand there's a lot
of things that work here but another focus of ours is that there's no more
unilateral decisions being made. There needs to be more checks and balances in
how their decision making process is done.”
Gov. Phil Murphy
says that the start of the new school year has so far been about what the state
expected, and his administration will continue to work alongside districts as
the year goes on.
Like Robbinsville, many
districts have had to make the temporary switch back to virtual learning. Murphy spoke about the situation Tuesday on
News 12’s Ask Governor
Murphy.
There are a couple
hundred students who quarantined and a few dozen confirmed positive
cases from the district. The numbers are from Friday, so they are likely
higher.
The shift to
virtual learning is temporary. As long as students don't test positive, they'll
be back Monday.