MILLBURN, NJ —On one hand, you have parents who want their kids to get a stringent education during the coronavirus spread, as if they were still in school.
On the other hand are the parents with sick relatives, or who are sick themselves, or who are teachers themselves, or have more than one child, who have a special needs child, or who work all day, or face some other challenge — and can't call for a substitute.
Ever since New Jersey's constitution was amended in 1875 to say all students should get a "thorough and efficient" education, leaders have struggled to provide equivalent schooling to students in all different situations. Gov. Phil Murphy said on Thursday that the reopening of schools won't be revisited until at least April 17, meaning most students will be learning at home for at least three more weeks (probably longer) without aides and specialists to help.
It was only March 5 the state's Department of Education asked the schools to plan for possible distance learning — with little time for them to figure out how students with different home lives could adapt to the paradigm.
The state said that students would meet the state's requirement for 180 days of school if they undertook virtual learning. It's rare for the state to allow for the exemption, and they did not during Hurricane Sandy.
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Now the districts face trying not to let students lag while also trying not to overwhelm people who are struggling.
Coupled with the stress of teaching while working, parents have suddenly had to occupy their hardware with new programs and juggle multiple communications amid their own distance meetings.
Even in a public school district like Millburn, which has been ranked among the top districts in the state, parents are concerned.
Several dozen posted comments on a Millburn Facebook group on Tuesday about a letter sent out this week by the principal of Millburn Middle School, which referred to awarding students "points."
"We will be making the following adjustments to our Distance Learning plan effective Tuesday, Mrch 24, 2020," wrote Principal John Connolly. "Teachers will have the ability to increase the available daily points for classroom and assignments to (2) points. Points awarded will be based on effort, accuracy, and competition. In week 3, teachers will be incorporating additional assignments." Periods 1-4 of school will start at 9 a.m., 5-9 at 11.
The letter received a mix of responses.
"Adding worry about grades to the nearly absurd amount of worry we are all collectively experiencing right now is a serious misstep," wrote one commenter.
"I get that this is Millburn and the school district's reputation for academic excellence precedes it, but my kids' physical and emotional well being comes way before grades," wrote another.
"The high school isn't grading anything right now," wrote another. "Why does my 8th grader need even more stress. Let the teachers teach interactively but they don't need to ramp up and complicate a points system."
Some begged to differ.
"I'm pretty sure that many people think that their MMS students can do more and can be accountable even in these uncertain times," wrote one. "This isn't looking like two weeks. We are all grappling with how much we can do, but expecting less isn't the way I want the school to approach things."
And someone said, "What is really needed is some ACTUAL virtual teaching — instead of the kids teaching themselves and receiving emails from teachers that they did the assignment wrong."
Districts have been handling the expectations on students (and parents) differently. Some have said work has to be turned in daily, while others have eased up or provided more open-ended assignments with less screen time.
Millburn officials held off on commenting on the controversy.
In other schools, some said they were trying to strike a balance.
"Our virtual learning plan includes a combination of strategically balanced live instruction as well as videos, activities, and assignments for students to engage with on their own schedules," said Timothy Saturn, the head of the private Oak Knoll school in Summit. "We knew that balance would be the key ...we set out to create a schedule for virtual learning that was up to our standards as educators but also flexible enough to accommodate many different types of families."
He added, "Some families have multiple children who are all struggling to get online at the same time or have a child who needs their parent's help while that parent may need to be on a conference call. It is important for schools to be understanding and flexible."
A parent on the Millburn Facebook page noted, "I know teachers who are teaching from home with two [or] three children. I'm just asking us to take every family's situation into account."
Residents who have questions about coronavirus can call 211 or contact the State of New Jersey's hotline at 1 (800) 222-1222.
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.
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How Much Virtual Learning Is Too Much Amid Coronavirus? - Millburn, NJ Patch
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