The Lawrence Township Public Schools will continue remote learning for students until at least April 20, Superintendent of Schools Ross Kasun said.
Lawrence Township school district officials had hoped to resume in-school instruction following the district’s April 6-10 spring break, but Gov. Phil Murphy announced that students may not return to the classroom until at least April 20, Kasun said.
Remote learning was instituted in response to Murphy’s executive order issued last month that closed schools indefinitely in an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19.
As a result of Murphy’s March 26 decision not to bring students back into the classroom, “we will continue our remote instruction plan,” Kasun said in a March 27 letter to students and their families.
“We are planning to deliver and push out new learning and new quality instruction remotely,” Kasun said. During the week of March 30, the district began to deliver some new learning for students in grades 6-12, he said.
Kasun said school district officials are developing a plan for grades K-5 that will be “ready to launch” when the students return from spring break on April 13.
“Teaching and learning at home are absolutely different. Remote learning is new and it is an uncharted path,” Kasun said.
He acknowledged that for some parents, balancing their work and their children’s instruction can be overwhelming.
“The conversation should not be about the quantity of the work. It should be about the quality of learning,” Kasun said, addressing some parents’ concerns that there is too little schoolwork, while other parents say that there is too much.
“Please keep in mind that this is truly uncharted (territory) and be flexible and patient with us,” Kasun said.
These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary people will rise above it, Kasun said.
“I know our school district will rise above it,” he said.
