Highland Park Public Schools Announces Phased Re-opening Plan

Oldest Grades Won’t Return to Class Until December 2020 at the Earliest

Superintendent Dr. Scott Taylor announced today phases of reopening in-person classes in Highland Park’s four public schools. His announcement came this morning in a call to district parents just weeks ahead of the start of the 2020-2021 school year on September 8.

Tentative reopening dates are as follows:

  • October 5 (Phase 2): Targeting Irving Primary, Grades 2-3, and the neediest special education and English language learning students;
  • November 2 (Phase 3): Fourth and 5th grade classes return;
  • December 7 (Phase 4): Middle and High School students return.

Dr. Taylor said the district would evaluate the “state of the pandemic” and would conduct a “thorough review of the ability to keep personnel and students safe will take place before each phase date to determine our ability to moving our plans forward.”

Dr. Taylor said students would have the option to learn remotely throughout all phases of the district’s reopening plans.

The announcement comes weeks after the district unveiled its School Reentry Plan, followed by the decision that the district would be all-remote starting on September 8.

Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Murphy and Department of Education Interim Commissioner Kevin Dehmer announced that New Jersey’s public and private school districts will be open for in-person instruction for the start of the school year if they adequately meet critical health and safety protocols outlined in the state’s school reopening plan.

To date, 20 out of 25 Middlesex County school districts have announced an all-remote start to the academic year.

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