By MADDY VITALE
Somers Point Schools Superintendent Michele CarneyRay-Yoder announced that district schools are going completely remote beginning Monday.
“At the start of this school year, it was our hope that we could return to a ‘new normal’ that allowed our students to remain in school,” she noted in a letter Friday to parents and guardians. “However, the ever changing landscape of COVID-19 continues to present new challenges.”
The entire district, including the Board of Education and the Atlantic County Department of Health, determined it was best to move students to all-remote learning effective Monday, Dec. 7 until Friday, Jan. 15, CarneyRay-Yoder said on the district’s website www.sptsd.org.
She explained how the region has moved into the “high risk” category for COVID-19. She also said guidance from the state Department of Health for K-12 schools was to “consider moving to fully remote learning.”
State officials also urged schools throughout New Jersey to go all-remote and/or “increase contact tracing to include not just people who have tested positive, but those who are showing symptoms of COVID-19.”
“The majority of our reported positive COVID-19 cases have been contracted outside of school,” CarneyRay-Yoder said. “Unfortunately, this pandemic continues to spread, daily adjustments have occurred due to positive cases, close contacts needing to quarantine, and other factors out of the District’s control.”
To view the schools superintendent’s letter in its entirety click the link below: https://somerspoint.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/12/12-4-2020-CLOSURE-LETTER-Google-Docs.pdf
“We have made this decision out of concern for our students, staff, and community members,” she said. “We anticipate hybrid students returning to school on Tuesday, Jan. 19.”
The superintendent also said that the district will continue to closely monitor the status of COVID-19 to ensure a safe and healthy re-opening of the district schools.
Parents and guardians are urged to contact her, the building administration, or school nurses with any questions and concerns that they may have.
“We want to thank our families, staff, faculty and community for their support and partnership during this challenging and unprecedented time,” CarneyRay-Yoder said.
She emphasized that although the tentative plan to reopen schools for hybrid learning is next month, things could change.
“This date for return allows for the two weeks immediately following the New Year to be remote learning and for a 14-day period of quarantine,” she said. “As this is a fluid situation, families should be ready in the event this timeline needs to be extended.”
