Students in New Jersey's largest city's school districts will return to their classrooms for the first time as a whole in over a year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced academics online in March 2020, then in a hybrid capacity in April 2021.
The Newark Board of Education confirmed that staff and administration will welcome students back this morning, Tuesday, for in-person classes full time and without an online option.
In April, after over a year of online remote learning using the Webex platform, students attended in-person classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Officials said on Wednesdays, students returned to virtual learning while school maintenance teams sanitized and thoroughly cleaned the district's school buildings.
Newark was one of the country's hardest-hit cities, with more than 900 COVID deaths reported.
All students and staff returning to school must wear face coverings on all school grounds, including buses. They can only remove them at designated meal times, according to the Newark Board of Education.
Around the United States, the deadly delta variant caused transmission and hospitalization rates to spike, with some districts delaying the start of the school year. Some began with virtual learning, and a handful was forced to shutter after just days of returning students to school due to outbreaks.
Since Gov. Phil Murphy opened vaccine access to educators back on March 7, over 2,500 educators and support staff in the district have been vaccinated with at least one dose.
In late July, Chalkbeat reported under 35% of Newark children ages 12-17 received at least one COVID vaccine dose by July 19,
According to Chalkbeat, at that time, Newark’s rate trailed the average nationally and in New Jersey, where more than 40% of eligible children have been vaccinated.
The country has not made it available for children under the age of 11 eligible to receive the vaccination.
But the delta variant, which is causing transmission and hospitalization rates to spike and now accounts for virtually all new cases in the U.S., is sinking even well-laid reopening plans in school districts across America.
As it stands, Newark and school districts around NJ and the country have adopted a wide variety of mitigation strategies, including masking, testing and tracing.