August 14, 2020

Dear Teaneck Parents/Guardians, Students and Staff,

Per Governor Murphy’s announcement on Wednesday, August 12, all New Jersey districts are able to submit plans to open schools this fall in an “all virtual/remote” learning environment. At a Special Board of Education meeting on Wednesday evening, the Board approved my recommendation to submit a revised “Return to School Plan” to open Teaneck Public Schools this September in an all virtual environment.

What does this mean for our parents, students and staff? We are working diligently to provide you with the answers that you need as quickly as possible; but at this point, I can share the following:

•	The “all virtual learning” will apply to all General Education and Special Education students from preschool through grade 12. There is no longer a need for parents to complete the online “All Remote Option Form”.
•	Our remote learning/live instruction will begin on Tuesday, September 8. Children will
	
	be expected to participate in instruction Monday through Friday.

•	Moving to “all virtual” will only extend through the first marking period (in November). In October, we will begin to assess our go-forward plan.
•	Our staff will return from Sept. 1 - 4 for professional development (some of this will be virtual and some may be in person).
•	At this time, staff do not need to complete any special leave or accommodation forms related to the Hybrid Model.

Additionally, we know we have many parents who are not able to work from home and will struggle with childcare needs during and after the school day. I assure you that we are working on a plan to offer options for our parents, but we need to know how many children will be participate as we will look to consolidate the opening of specific school buildings. If you know that you will require such childcare assistance, then please complete and return this brief survey https://forms.gle/2ydoiuSSS6sEeo229 for each child, and submit no later than Tuesday, August 18. This information is critical so that we can determine our ability to provide these services. Once we are able to evaluate possible childcare options, there will be an official sign-up process that will be made available as soon as possible.

More information on our new Return to School plans and student class schedules will be forthcoming by next Friday. Our final revised plan will still require our County Department of Education and our Teaneck Board of Education’s approval.

Finally, I want to remind our families that I will be hosting a Student Virtual Town Hall on Tuesday, August 18 at 6 pm: https://www.teaneckschools.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6Y3AB0B&dasi=4GBPB. Also, the school principals and the Special Education Department will be hosting their own
Virtual Town Halls for parents during the week of August 24.
	Additional information will be
	
available next week on the district website and Facebook page.

Best regards,

Dr. Christopher Irving, Superintendent of Schools