‘Opening Of Schools Q&A’ Coming To Long Valley Parents

LONG VALLEY, NJ — With Governor Phil Murphy’s announcement on Friday that all students and staff in public schools throughout New Jersey will need to be masked in September, in spite of vaccination status, the Washington Township Schools is in the process of preparing an “Opening of Schools Q&A,” to facilitate the start of the 2021-2022 school year.

Washington Township students head back to school on Sept. 1.

In June, Washington Township Schools’ Board of Education represented one of many districts in New Jersey that wrote to Murphy to ask that he repeal the mask mandate for public schools throughout the state. At that time, the board’s letter expressed that the “landscape has changed enough” with COVID, to “allow families to make a decision on what is best practices for their children.” With the vaccine and mutations, the Board of Education stated COVID-19’s complications were “far less dramatic” than they had previously been.

Under former Superintendent Jeffrey Mohre, who retired in June, the school said it would lift masking requirements, in cases of extreme heat - under Murphy’s direction in June - a provision that Murphy has included in his masking directive for the start 2021-2022 school year.

Interim Superintendent of Washington Township Schools Laura Morana updated the district’s families late this past Friday of the plans for the Q&A document, in her weekly update.

Among items to be addressed in the document are: instructional program and assessment plans for PreK-8, transportation, food services, general health and safety guidelines, cleaning of the schools, health screenings, parent and staff meeting guidelines, extra-curricular activities, assemblies, field trips, inclement weather procedures, alternate plans for hybrid and remote learning and communication resources.

For families who have been away, Morana said the deadline for the survey she asked families to complete, has been extended through Monday, Aug. 9. Click here for the survey. To date, more than 1,000 families have answered it, Morana added.

Families who have questions before heading back to school, may also email opening2021@wtschools.org.

In her update, Morana reminded families who would like to have their children receive the COVID vaccine, the Long Valley Pharmacy is hosting a clinic on Friday, Aug. 20, with the second shot clinic on Friday, Sept. 10. Families can make appointments with kristen@longvalleypharmacy.com or covid19@ltcscripts.com.

RELATED: Back To School: Long Valley 2021-22 School Calendar

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.