Latest news from the Middlesex County School Districts highlights that most of the school districts have gone remote for the most part of the 1st week of January post winter break and with the Covid numbers surging to May 2020 levels. The list of schools as available on NJ.com is –
- East Brunswick – Virtual through Jan. 7.
- Middlesex County Vocational Technical – East Brunswick and Piscataway remote until January 7.
- Monroe – Closed Jan. 3. Half-day remote through Jan. 7.
- North Brunswick – Remote through Jan. 17.
- Piscataway – Remote through Jan. 18.
- South Amboy – Remote through Jan. 7.
- South Brunswick – Remote through Jan. 14.
- South Plainfield – Remote through Jan 7.
- South River – In-person half-days with no lunch between Jan 5-31 for the high school, and Jan 10-31 for all schools.
However, when we look at the Edison Schol district, it seems to be the only insensitive Board that has decided to remain open for in-person learning right from the Day 1 of the School Session starting January 3, 2022.
So, why is it that the Edison School District is so insensitive even after Parents reaching out to the School Board as well as the Health officials? Is it that they have not understood the gravity of the situation posed by the Omicron Variant or is it that they are too naive to understand the basics of Health situation that can be summed up with following points –
- Winter Break – Christmas Gatherings plus new Year celebrations would have resulted in many cases including creation of Carriers for the various variants including Delta and Omicron
- Post Winter Break, when the schools open, the actual numbers of “At Risk” students may not be known due to the winter break causing the lack of communication between parents and the school offices
- Symptomatic cases will be fine as the parents may not send the kids to the school, but what about the Asymptomatic cases and the carriers?
- Vaccination rates are also not as high in the students due to the late introduction of the vaccines for below 12 years, plus vaccination is not a guarantee that the virus as well as its variants wouldn’t affect anyone for that matter
- More so, previously infected students would be more “At Risk” to get sick as their immune system still needs to build up (for up to 3 months) after getting infected initially. Interesting enough that various studies revealed that the virus, though might not spread after 10 days (the quarantine period), but does stay in the Body for at least 3 months post infection
- Students that do not get infected may be because of the vaccine boosting their immunity, may become the carriers and transfer to the Family members with Low or compromised immunity “At Risk”
- Not just hat even the Teachers and their families have increased chances of getting infected
If we are to conclude, while most of the School Districts have taken a sane decision, why is it that the Edison School District trying to Stand Tall among the dwarfs? Sometimes, taking a bow to the situation is Brevity, trying to Stand Tall is NOT.
Governor Phil Murphy may have given the authority to the school districts to take individual call on “In-person” or “remote” options, but that doesn’t mean to put Students, Teachers as well as community “At Risk”.
Parents, Teachers and community as whole needs to take a stand to ensure the safety of everyone rather than thinking individually or on selfish level. I have interacted with many parents and have been shocked to receive a response that they would prefer to send kids to School rather than tending them at home. Probably, Edison School Board of Education is buckling under such a pressure rather than acting sane. Neither the parents nor the Boards in this case is able to understand that at least a week of “Remote Learning” would ensure many 15 days of “Remote Learning sessions” for the students and many other sever cases that may be caused by this forced “In-Person” sessions.
