Jersey City Superintendent of Schools Announces In-Person Instruction Will Not Resume This Academic Year

During a robocall made to parents on Sunday night, Jersey City Superintendent of Schools Franklin Walker announced that in school instruction will not resume until September due to a lack of adequate personnel.

Walker said many teachers had recently returned to prepare their classrooms for in person learning, but unfortunately he says, “The staff we need for adequate supervision and instruction is not available. On Thursday we had 458 instructional staff absent, and then close to 500 on Friday.”

The Superintendent says those numbers did not include the medical and maternity leaves which routinely affect the district.  He adds that there are not enough substitutes available to cover the lack of teachers in the schools.

With more than 400 employees remaining home due to increased risks of COVID-19, Walker says the district cannot function normally with students in the school buildings, so the decision has been made not to return to the classrooms this academic year.

Walker says he will provide any updates as needed.  So, for the remainder of the school year, students will continue to learn remotely from home.