Millburn Schools To Go Remote Monday And Tuesday

MILLBURN, NJ — Millburn Superintendent of Schools Christine Burton announced Tuesday that this coming Monday and Tuesday, the Millburn public schools will be remote.

Millburn Middle School is also amid a 14-day quarantine and will stay remote until Dec. 7.

Burton said she will continue to assess the district's needs, in terms of future changes. The district is also set to be remote for two weeks in January.

"On Thursday, Nov. 19, the New Jersey Department of Health raised our COVID-19 Regional Risk Matrix level to 'high risk' or 'orange' level," Burton wrote in a message Tuesday. "The numbers of new and active cases in our community continue to show an upward trend over the last few weeks."

She noted, "Since last Thursday 6 of our 8 schools have been impacted with positive or presumed positive cases. We have received 296 requests across all schools to move from hybrid to remote as a result of concerns about community spread and the closure of the Middle School this week."

She added, "The governor has restricted the number of individuals who can gather indoors and outdoors and attempt to bring the levels down as we go full-on into the cold and flu season. Additionally, the CDC has strongly urged everyone to avoid travel and gathering for Thanksgiving weekend.

"In anticipation of a weekend of holiday gatherings, travel, the return of college students, and in consultation with the Millburn Department of Health, as a precautionary measure, we will be operating all schools remotely on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 next week. This will allow us to assess any increases in community cases and spread, assess our staffing and address any school-related contact tracing that will likely need to occur."

As of now, all schools except the Middle School will reopen for hybrid teaching on Wednesday "depending on the circumstances in each building and or the community at that time," Burton wrote. "Please alert your school nurse of any COVID symptoms or positive cases in your children or household, especially on Monday and Tuesday. We will be using that data to make informed decisions about the health and safety of our schools."

Those with symptoms are 'presumed positive'

Burton said that as a result of being at the high-risk level, the district now has stricter requirements for quarantining and excluding students and staff from school. "In addition to anyone who tests positive for COVID-19, anyone who presents with symptoms of COVID-19 must be treated as 'presumed positive.' They in turn must quarantine for 14 days, as well as all individuals who have been in close contact with that person, or until the presumed positive person tests negative for COVID-19."

See DOH COVID-19 Exclusion Table.

Remote in January

The schools will also go remote for two weeks after the end of winter break, from Jan. 4 to Jan. 15, to reduce coronavirus transmission. Several other districts have made similar plans.

"Please plan to return from travel on or before January 4th, and follow the CDC quarantine guidelines, while learning and teaching virtually," Burton wrote. Read more on that story here.

Gov. Phil Murphy has told people coming back from 46 states to quarantine for 14 days.

More than 2,500 hospitalized in state

Millburn started remotely this year. Children younger than fifth grade started on-site learning in October, and older children returned to their buildings the week of Nov. 9.

In New Jersey, there were 2,505 patients in hospitals battling coronavirus as of last Friday, three times the number from a month ago. Of those, 452 were in ICU and 233 were using ventilators.

Last Saturday, 34 residents of New Jersey were confirmed to have died of the virus since the day before, numbers not seen since July. The state's highest one-day fatality rate was 460 residents on April 30, or one fatality every three minutes.

Doctors have said that a number of factors are contributing to the drop in the New Jersey daily death rate since spring, including people getting test results (and thus treatment) sooner, more protective equipment available in hospitals, and doctors becoming better able to treat the virus. However, the virus still can have long-term effects.

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