“When you only do something once in several hundred years, that tells you it’s not a lever that we lightly pull,” Murphy said. He said a decision to close state offices early Wednesday and open them late Thursday was simpler, because it involved fewer facilities, concentrated in fewer places., and does not allow school days after graduation ceremonies. The requirement can provide a schedule constraint for a district considering unexpected closures late in the school year.
State law also restricts when a district can conduct virtual or remote learning. A district can only count remote days toward the 180-day requirement in health emergencies or during declared states of emergency thatNew York City schools were already scheduled to be closed to students on Thursday, on their normal calendar. NYC schools will hold classes remotely on Friday. Philadelphia, but students were kept inside, windows were closed and field trips were canceled.
New Jersey has distributed more than 52,000 HEPA air purifier systems to about 1,800 schools and 450 child care centers since the start of the pandemic, Persichilli said. Those cover about 75% of the aging buildings the state deems high-risk because of poor ventilation. Murphy said the state doesn’t currently have any plans to order masking, as it did for certain activities in the pandemic. New Jersey officials do not recommend children under the age of 2 wear masks.“You know your child best, so you can determine if a mask is appropriate,” she said.Related stories