O’Scanlon & DiMaso Support Parents Against Extended School Closures

Say State Needs to Get on the Same Page to Keep Schools Open

Senator Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso (both R-Monmouth) supported local parents from Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District following news that the school district would switch to all-remote learning for a prolonged period.

“We stand with the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional parents and their concerns in closing schools for six weeks, and in their very reasonable requests of the district administration and school board,” said O’Scanlon. “We are all for combating COVID on every scientifically justified front. However, just like we’ve seen in NYC it doesn’t appear that the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional’s decision makers are following the science and including parents in communication efforts. We need to all get on the same page here. The parents are asking for a 14-day closure of schools to comply with quarantine standards, instead of a full six weeks. That’s completely reasonable.”

“These families have every right to be upset given the drastic response and last minute relay of information to parents,” DiMaso continued. “How can the Governor be pushing for students to safely stay in school but DOH recommends that a district implement fully remote learning? The regional risk is listed as ‘high’ but even if there aren’t any outbreaks within the school the guidelines still recommend closure. The reported data shows a total of 269 school related COVID cases since August 1. Based on the number of cases we’ve reported every day since then, it’s an incredibly small percentage of our new cases. The Governor said as much in his joint statement indicating that in-person learning was safe and necessary so long as it was done safely, which it has been.”

Matawan-Aberdeen parents are banding together after the school district announced that instruction would switch to remote for six weeks instead of the standard 14-day quarantine. Recent articles have highlighted that this prolonged school closure as becoming more common.

“Unfortunately, with the mixed messages on schooling from the administration we’ve seen some of our local districts, including Matawan-Aberdeen Regional, over-correcting when it comes to cases in schools,” said O’Scanlon. “It’s not surprising that school boards would struggle here considering the mixed messages coming from the Governor’s office. DOH guidance on school openings hasn’t been updated substantively in four months and we’ve learned a lot in that time about how to handle school cases and where those cases are coming from. The Governor in his personal pronouncements and in a recent press release – along with other regional Governors – sent the right message … that in-school learning is both safe and superior to virtual and that we should work to keep kids in school. However, that messaging is contradicted by the Department of Health’s own guidelines. We all need to get on the same page here and favor keeping schools open safely.”

The three requests from Matawan-Aberdeen parents are: a standard 14-day quarantine with schools reopening by December 10; the formation of a working group with parents and stakeholders to create a plan to avoid future closures, and; improved communication from the Board of Education including alerts for any board discussions regarding potential closures.

“Evidence shows that rate of transmission in schools isn’t any higher, and is lower in some cases, than the surrounding community. There are potentially serious negative impacts for students’ mental health and education with prolonged remote learning. Despite the Governor’s recent comments to use a surgical approach, between this conflicting guidance and the recent broad indoor sports closure it clearly isn’t happening.” DiMaso concluded.