Moorestown Schools In 'Good Shape' Amid COVID Surge, Super Says

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The Moorestown Public School District is in “good shape to remain open” amid a spike in COVID-19 cases that has forced many school districts to go virtual, according to Superintendent of Schools Michael Volpe.

If the district were forced to close, Volpe would alert the community immediately, he said during Tuesday night’s annual reorganization meeting of the Moorestown Public School District’s Board of Education.

“We could be in situations where we closed individual schools due to staffing and transmission, and the rest of the district was open,” Volpe said. “It really depends on who is out and when and where and why. This is irregular and not predictable, but you can count on me communicating it as soon as we know things.”

As of Wednesday morning, Burlington County remained at “high risk” for COVID-19 transmission, according to the New Jersey Department of Health’s weekly activity report. Countywide, 11,766 new cases were reported between Dec. 22 and Jan. 4.

But the number that matters most when it comes to closing schools is the rate of in-school transmission, Volpe said. If that is high enough, the board of health could recommend shutting down schools.

As of Wednesday morning, there were 119 active positive cases among students in the district, and 26 active cases among staff members, according to the district's online COVID-19 dashboard. There were 256 students and 39 staff members in quarantine.

“The second reason (to shut down) would be that my dedicated teaching staff would be mandated to quarantine for some reason, and we might not have enough substitutes to come in and cover for them,” Volpe said. “We would have a lack of staffing at that point because the teachers don’t have any choice as to whether or not they would want to quarantine if they were positive.”

Volpe said members of the community could help by becoming substitute teachers.

“As I have looked at the substitute rolls over the last three years, it has gone down and down and down,” Volpe said. “The more substitutes we have, the more likely we are to cover everything that we need to do.”

Volpe said he is thankful for the substitutes the district currently has, as well as the willingness of new substitutes to come on board.

"Additionally, I am so impressed with the spirit of my staff and their eagerness to help keep schools open," Volpe said in an email to Patch Wednesday morning. "Finally, on a daily basis, my administrative team and support staff plan creatively and effectively to make sure absences can be covered and students can receive instruction in school."

If the district does have to close specific schools or the whole district, the board approved a plan in the fall for virtual instruction. Details of that plan can be found on the district's website.

The only students who are learning virtually right now are those who have to quarantine, as every effort is being made to keep schools open.

Earlier this week, Gov. Phil Murphy reiterated that the state has no plans to shut down schools the way it did in March 2020.Read more here: Close NJ Schools? Murphy Says No Amid COVID-19 'Tsunami'

“The state has made it very clear that it would like to have in-person learning as much as possible for our students,” Volpe said. “There’s no one person that makes the right decision on all this. The state has put forth a process, and we will follow that process to try to keep our students in person or make informed decisions if we have to close.”