Montclair And Nutley Parents Protest, Demand Schools Reopen

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Dozens of people rallied in Montclair and Nutley on Saturday to demand that schools reopen for in-person classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Held in solidarity with other #OpenSchools protests taking place across the nation, the Nutley rally took place outside John Walker Middle School.

Montclair protesters took to Edgemont Park and other locations in town, carrying signs that read “Get Our Kids Back In School” and “Close Bars, Open Schools.”

About 80 people showed up to the park, including several young students, who – clad in face masks – held up signs that blasted Zoom and said that online learning was making them “blurry.”

Some parents said they were having trouble juggling work schedules with helping their kids navigate online classes and stay on task. Other parents, including the mother of a child with special needs, said that distance learning was making their kids fall behind, NorthJersey.com reported.

Earlier this month, Montclair School Superintendent Jonathan Ponds announced that the district was pushing back its plan to reopen for a hybrid mix of in-person and distance learning.

Schools will remain fully remote until after the holidays. Administrators plan to phase in hybrid learning with grades preK-5 students and all special needs students beginning Jan. 25, followed by grades 6-12 on Feb. 8.

• See related article: Montclair Schools Will Stay Remote Until After Holidays

The group that spearheaded Saturday’s protest in Montclair shared photos from the rally with the hashtag #openschools, a reference to the Open Schools US movement.

Organizers with Open Schools US released the following statement prior to last weekend’s rallies, which can be seen in full here:

"Parents across the United States are calling on leaders to follow the guidance of public health experts on COVID and schools, and to take urgent action to open schools in regions where they have been closed, in spite of low-to-moderate COVID rates ... Parents are calling on leaders to follow the guidance of Dr. Fauci, CDC Director Redfield and the CDC’s latest guidelines, Dr. Tanya Altman of AAP, Dr. Dimitri Christakis and his colleagues at JAMA, Dr. Ashish Jha, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the New England Journal of Medicine, UNICEF recommendations based on their research from 191 countries, the World Health Organization, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Harvard epidemiologist Dr. Marc Lipsitch, infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja, 61 concerned pediatricians and more — and open our schools."

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Sign up for Patch email newsletters.