With each passing day, more and more coronavirus-related news seems to break. This time around, this news is pertaining to one thing in particular — schools. On Monday, May 4th, NJ Governor Phil Murphy has announced that schools will be closed for the remainder of the academic year. Here is the situation and timeline of the school closure:
{Photo credit: Google Maps}
Schools Closing
#BREAKING: ALL SCHOOLS WILL REMAIN CLOSED for in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year – to protect the health of our children, our educators, and their families.
Guided by safety and science, this is the best course of action. pic.twitter.com/PI5xFxPlVZ
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) May 4, 2020
Although statewide remote learning has been in place for quite some time, today, May 4th, NJ’s Governor Murphy announced that schools will officially remain closed for “in-person instruction” for the rest of the academic year.
“ALL SCHOOLS WILL REMAIN CLOSED for in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year – to protect the health of our children, our educators, and their families. Guided by safety and science, this is the best course of action,” he tweeted.
Shortly after on a local level, Hoboken’s mayor, Ravi Bhalla, issued an official statement commending the governor’s decision.
“Closing schools for the rest of the year is the prudent thing to do, and I applaud Governor Murphy for making this difficult decision,” Mayor Bhalla said. “We need to do everything we can to protect our children, parents, and educators, and this will ensure we do not unnecessarily jeopardize their health and safety.”
Both Hoboken + Jersey City’s public schools have been closed since March 16th, with a prior potential reopening date as May 15th.
Previously, however, Jersey City Superintendent Franklin Walker had stated that he didn’t think schools would be ready to reopen by the projected date of May 15th, the date Governor Murphy originally gave the state’s education system for tentative reopening. “A lot of decisions have not been made, especially when it comes to transitioning large crowds back in an environment like that, especially in terms of schools,” Walker said to NJ.com.
Fast forward to May 4th, and schools will now be closed for the rest of the school year.
See More: Latest Jersey City + Hoboken COVID-19 Updates as of May 4, 2020
The Bigger Picture
Governor Murphy’s announcement comes just a week after major statewide coronavirus-related updates became available. Last Monday, April 27th, he rolled out a six-point plan for “responsibly reopening” New Jersey. Shortly thereafter, he announced that all state parks and golf courses would reopen as of Saturday, May 2nd. Locally, Jersey City’s mayor shared on a Facebook Live and on his Twitter on Saturday, April 25th that parks in JC would begin to reopen and the city would be taking steps back to normalcy on Monday, April 27th and a collaborative effort between North Hudson County Mayors was announced work on the “eventual reopening of municipal parks.”
And following all of that news, major COVID-19 testing updates have happened locally as well. Last week, Hoboken announced that it would be testing all residents with or without symptoms at the Riverside Medical Group testing site, while Jersey City will be testing all residents with + without symptoms and has begun antibody testing for all residents starting today, May 4th.
Read More: COVID-19 Testing Sites in New Jersey + Your FAQs Answered
Of course, all of this news is subject to changes and further development, and we will keep you updated accordingly. As it currently stands, statewide, New Jersey has 128,269 of COVID-19, with 15,881 in Hudson County. In Jersey City there are 5,675 cases and in Hoboken, there are 489.
Got a news tip? Let us know — email us at hello@hobokengirl.com! We appreciate it.
Did you know: We started a podcast about all things news and lifestyle in Hoboken + Jersey City! Listen to the latest episode of Tea on the Hudson here and subscribe.
