Trenton schools to partially return to in-person learning on May 3

Students continue to return to classrooms across New Jersey in advance of the expected return to full-time in-person learning in September.
Trenton city officials are putting precautions in place ahead of a May 3 partial reopening that will send thousands of students back into school buildings.
“We want to make sure they’re safe. We want to make sure that they’re protected, what we are following the science,” says Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora.
Teachers are returning to the classroom in May. There will be a split schedule with each student in the classroom two days a week.
The mayor and superintendent of schools led a tour on Wednesday at Hedgepeth Williams Middle School.
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“To show you some of the investments we made in our classrooms, prepare for a safe learning environment for our teachers and for our students,” says Trenton School Superintendent Alfonso Llano.
COVID-19 precautions for the district range from plexiglass desk shields to capped water fountains to temperatures checks and isolation rooms for sick students.
“The big concern in their learning is they’re losing almost a year of learning. There’s high absenteeism, even in virtual learning. We have students that we can’t even account for,” says Gusciora.
Only 20% of school districts in New Jersey offer full-time, in-person instruction. But many other districts are ahead of Trenton in offering some in-person learning.
Officials had worried that schools could serve as super-spreaders, with children spreading coronavirus to parents and grandparents. But the state Department of Health says that just over 1,000 COVID-19 vases our of nearly 850,000 statewide are linked to schools.
Officials from the Trenton teachers’ union have objected to the district’s move, saying that they are concerned about air quality and circulation in aging school buildings.