By BILL BARLOW /Special to the Sentinel
UPPER TOWNSHIP — Budgets, standardized testing, school lunches and transportation issues were discussed during the Upper Township Board of Education meeting Dec. 21, but as with so much in 2020, the pandemic and its impact were center stage at the meeting.
Schools are scheduled to reopen after the winter break Monday, Jan. 4. But even with the first vaccines for COVID-19 now being distributed to health care workers, health officials warn against anyone dropping their guard as infections continue, which means the winter semester is likely to be as challenging as the fall.
Starting in September, the district launched a hybrid schedule, under which half the students attended class in person Monday and Tuesday and worked remotely three days a week, while the other half started their week remotely and attended in person Thursday and Friday.
The proposal sought to ensure sufficient distance between each student to meet state guidelines for COVID-19 safety.
In late September, the Upper Township Primary School went to entirely virtual classes after two people tested positive for the virus. For most of the fall semester, though, the three schools in the district have maintained the on-again, off-again schedule, with students divided into “Eagles” and “Phillies.” “Osprey” students are fully virtual.
It has not been easy for anyone, school superintendent Vincent Palmieri said at the recent meeting.
“Being totally honest, the first day it felt like real school for me was last Friday, when everybody here and in the other two schools were out decorating the halls and Christmas music was playing, holiday music was playing and kids were smiling, kids were happy,” he said. “It was probably the first time that it felt like a normal day at school.”
Everyone at the school is under exceptional pressure, he said.
It’s been difficult to maintain connections and to remain motivated, and for teachers to meet the needs of all of their students.
“We’re trying to figure out a way to do that amongst all of the craziness. Because people get burnt. Kids get burnt, parents get burnt, teachers get burnt,” he said. “This has worked for four months. It’s going to be hard for everybody to sustain this for another six. That’s just the reality.”
Every day is a new challenge, he said, but added that staff members are determined to do everything they can for the students.
Teachers have faced extraordinary challenges this school year, seeking to make connections with multiple “little Zoom faces,” as Palmieri described it.
“As we say every month: our staff, it’s been unbelievable what they’ve been able to do. The amount of time that they’re working during school hours, after school hours, on the weekends,” Palmieri said.
Multiple teachers in the district take time to meet virtually with students on weekends and in evenings after school, trying to help students as much as possible. That is well beyond the schedule set by the district, he said.
“They are going our of their way to make these connections, and it’s not anything that any of us are asking them to do. They’re genuinely concerned about their students,” he said.
“That is a true testament to their character, that pandemic or no pandemic, that this is something that they would readily do,” school board president Michele Barbieri said. “We are very proud that they are doing that.”
She described this year as being similar to someone’s first year teaching, with the need to create new systems and figure out unfamiliar circumstances, but the teachers cannot walk to the classroom next door and ask for help.
Palmieri spoke at length about Upper Township’s placement on the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum, a system of the New Jersey Department of Education that evaluates school districts based on instruction and program, finances, governance, operations and personnel.
Upper Township has consistently been determined to be a high-performing school district. Both houses of the state Legislature have approved a bill postponing the review of some districts, which Palmieri described as good news. For high-performing districts, the review is postponed until the 2023-24 school year.
On Dec. 23, after the Upper Township meeting, Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill into law.
It looks likely that standardized testing will take place this spring, Palmieri told the board. At least there has been no specific determination to delay testing, he said. In some ways, it may be worthwhile to get a picture of the impact of various approaches undertaken in different school districts, he suggested, but it seemed clear he would rather that, too, be set aside until later.
“We’ve been preparing for it. We’re moving as if it’s going to happen,” he said. “I would have hoped that people would have used common sense and said, ‘Wait a minute. This whole year has been an anomaly. Let’s put everything on hold,’” he said.
Barbieri also pointed to the disruption of class schedules caused by testing, a disruption likely to be magnified by the logistical details of maintaining distance amid the pandemic.
Laurie Ryan, the district business administrator and board secretary, began the meeting with a presentation on next year’s school budget. She indicated that she would have a clearer picture of the budget in January.