Newark schools finally reopened for the new semester on Jan. 18.
Two weeks ago the district reverted to remote learning due to the surge in COVID cases.
Parents have mixed feelings about sending their kids back. Chalkbeat’s Patrick Wall talked to some of them.
“Folks felt that it was in students’ best interest to go back to school, that they learn a lot better in person than they do on their computers, and that they really need the social interaction,” he said, “but there was also some hesitation and concern about how many Covid cases there have been.”
How many will return to class is the question. The first day New York City reopened its schools, about a third of students did not show up.
“The district is optimistic that folks will do this partly because they don’t really have an option, the district isn’t offering a remote option now,” said Wall.
He said some things about school are looking very different than what students are used to because of staff shortages.
“I’ve heard of class sizes getting much larger because they’re having to combine some classes and I even did hear from an employee at one school who said the vice principal was in the lunchroom cooking school lunches,” he said.
Hundreds of school employees continue to test positive each week. Nearly 90% of teachers are vaccinated.