Schools
In-Person Classes Expected To Resume In Hopatcong, Jan. 11
Hopatcong's schools have been virtual since Jan. 6 after a rise in staff COVID cases.
HOPATCONG, NJ — After aiming to get back to in-person classes on Monday, instead, Hopatcong students are expected to return to school on Tuesday.
The school switched to virtual learning on Jan. 6, after more than 60 staff members in the district ended up in COVID quarantine following the holiday break, according to Hopatcong Schools' superintendent.
An alert message posted at the top of the district’s website on Monday shared the expected in-person return date of Jan. 11.
Find out what's happening in Hopatcong-Spartawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
RELATED: COVID Staff Absences Force Hopatcong Schools Virtual
Having pivoted to Google Meets and Classroom, Superintendent Dr. Joseph Piccirillo described the situation in a letter, before classes went remote, as not only painful, but one he called “fluid.”
Find out what's happening in Hopatcong-Spartawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
After the holiday break, districtwide, there were 55 staff absences on Jan. 3 and over 60 on Jan. 4.
On Jan. 5, students were in school to enable families to make childcare arrangements, if they needed them, for the virtual days.
“For us, it really came down to staffing, not to number of cases,” Piccirillo told Patch in an email as the district was preparing to go remote. “When students are quarantined we provide them with virtual instruction, but when staff members are out and we cannot get subs, it doesn't leave enough adults in the building to supervise students and adequately run our programs -- and that is the situation we are in.”
Although many schools had a snow day this past Friday, some like Chester and Chatham closing for the day because of staff shortages in addition to the weather, Hopatcong stayed in session virtually. In his letter, Picirillo wrote to families that schools could not be virtual because of the snow, but since the district went into remote mode because of COVID, they were able to hold classes.
Other districts that have gone into virtual sessions in Sussex County because of COVID cases are Sparta and Lenape Valley, both planning to return to in-person classes by Jan. 18.
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