November 25, 2020
Dear Paramus Community,
Throughout this school year, our approach to designing, implementing, and adjusting our learning models has remained consistent in its prioritization of health and safety above all else. As a community, we have come together in our adherence to the enhanced health and safety protocols that have allowed our school buildings to remain safe places for our staff and in-person students to participate in the learning process. While we have needed to implement COVID-19 related quarantines of student and staff groups (you may view data related to these quarantines on the district’s new COVID-19 Quarantine Dashboard), our number of confirmed in-school transmissions of COVID-19 remains at zero.
However, based on the criteria established by the New Jersey Department of Health, there are situations beyond the control of individual school districts that may compel those districts to implement full-remote learning for all students. As you are aware, our region–like much of the State–is currently considered “High Risk” for COVID-19 transmission according to the most recent COVID-19 activity level report, and the case rate (number of cases per 100,000 people) and percent positivity (percentage of total positive COVID-19 tests out of all COVID-19 test performed) continue to steadily increase at an exponential rate. As I have mentioned numerous times since this trend of weekly significant increases began in October, these region-wide and state-wide
numbers have a direct correlation to the increasing likelihood of individual school districts needing to transition to full-remote learning models due to local community spread of COVID-19. Indeed, in its COVID-19 guidelines for public schools, the New Jersey Department of Health identifies “very high risk of community transmission” as the highest level in a hierarchy of school closure scenarios that require quarantines and/or school/district closures.
Unfortunately, the number and frequency of COVID-19 positive cases have now risen to levels that place the Paramus community within the “very high risk of community transmission” category. As a result, the NJDOH’s criteria have compelled the Paramus Department of Health, in consultation with the New Jersey Department of Health, to recommend that all schools within the district switch to a full-remote learning model beginning Monday, November 30, 2020 with an anticipated return to in-person learning date of Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
Please keep in mind that the return date of January 18 is a projection based on the current rate of transmission across the community and region and the subsequent length of time that is required to allow that transmission rate to decrease to levels at which our students may return to in-person learning. If rates within our community do not subside, however, we may be forced to extend the full-remote period beyond that date. Therefore, for both the health of all members of our community and the ability of our students to return to the school buildings as quickly as possible, it remains absolutely imperative that we join together as a community in our strict adherence to following all health and safety protocols. Our students are depending on all of us to meet our individual responsibilities as members of a larger community. Our case numbers will not decrease if we do not hold ourselves accountable to acting in the interests of the greater good.
While I know that this district-wide transition to full-remote learning is extremely disappointing and disruptive to many members of our school community, it is a change in learning model that has been determined for us entirely by the current health data. Our community has repeatedly shown throughout this health crisis that we can rise to meet and overcome the many challenges facing us. Let us remain resolute in our commitment to each other to continue that tradition. I wish each of you a healthy and safe Thanksgiving. Thank you for your continued support, understanding, and collaboration.
Sincerely,
Sean Adams
Superintendent of Schools
Ridgewood should do likewise and not reopen until ALL students and staff take a virus test and have the results come back negative prior to returning to school.
Yes Most of us agree to that. Let’s all be smart. Be safe so we can enjoy Thanksgiving.
What are Ridgewood and Wyckoff waiting for…..?
We also agree with the previous 2 posters that The Ridgewood BOE should require a negative test for all before reentering the school buildings. Instead of having marathon BOE meetings to discuss whatever, the Ridgewood BOE should immediately pick up the phone, coordinate with Bergen County Community College/Newbridge Medical and Mr. Tedesco at Bergen County as our local government representative to arrange for quick testing for all staff and students at the BCCC site. The Newbridge website states that there are about 15 days within the month of December that testing is possible at BCCC, with results available within 24 hours. The last time I used Google maps, the distance to BCCC on Paramus Road from either RHS or BFM was about 1 1/2 miles from those buildings.
The Ridgewood BOE needs to act now to ensure the safety of all before more get sick once they re enter the schools since it appears that at present there is no such testing requirement as we write this post on Thanksgiving Day .
Shut it down
A terrible decision. What exactly is going to change in January? Need to stop hiding from a virus where 99.9% of people recover. Closing schools, where there is no evidence of Covid spread is simply foolish and terrible for the kids.
Het Anon… above. A terrible decision???. Do you mean closing the schools or being tested? In any event, to me they go hand and hand and it doesn’t infringe on any of your rights. Since the COVID cases are rising and all NJ is now in the orange zone, please see the following link to today’s NJ.com article that reports that the current NJ guidance is for all school districts to consider to go all remote in the short term.
https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/11/schools-in-all-21-nj-counties-should-now-consider-implementing-fully-remote-learning-state-guidelines-say.html
Increase in Positive test results doesn’t change the fact that 99.9 % of infected do recover.
16,000 plus dead in New Jersey is a FACT and not a percentage figure one recites. Unless you are living in an artificial bubble and not in contact with real people, the majority of people in Bergen county NJ know someone who has either died or was seriously ill because of the virus. I guess anon above does not associate with this type of reality.
Yes and 1/2 that number is people Murphy murdered in nursing homes (FACT),folks what Murphy’s doing aint working time to try .something new
If u have zero cases In the school then why shut down are u going to repair a fractured education system stop being afraid and let them live there life and learn in school if u get a case then shut down show some backbone
If u have zero cases in school then why shut down are u going to fix this broken education system show some backbone and don’t b afraid of it if u get positive cases then shut down u are like all the other districts doing the same thing u are afraid of it
Ridgewood’s Willard School today ( Sat Nov 28th) to go all remote. Since the grammar schools feed the middle schools and the middle schools feed the high school, this is Russian Roulette, especially since no one is tested.
Now we have the high school, both middle schools, and a grammar school closed with approximately 40 cases in total.
SHUT THEM ALL DOWN.
Sounds like these people do not want their kids at home – period