Berlin district reveals school reopening plan

District moves forward with in-person instruction this fall

The Berlin Borough School District Board of Education held its monthly meeting Wednesday, July 22 and addressed its school reopening plan.

During the virtual session, Superintendent Joe Campisi presented the district’s 2020-’21 objectives for the fall and described the difficulties of moving forward as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Gov. Phil Murphy indicated earlier in July that parents can opt to have their child continue remote learning if they fear in-person schooling.

While that right, of course, also extends to parents within Berlin Borough, Campisi said during his presentation that the Berlin Community Schools’ Restart and Reopening Committee, which focused on health and the logistics of returning to school, was able to determine the district can safely bring back all students.

“After a close examination of our building, we have determined that we can bring back 100 percent of students and staff in September for full in-person and on-site teaching and learning,” Campisi said. “But parents, and I can’t stress this enough, do have the option to keep [their] children on remote instruction if they would like.”

Regarding the plan for a return to in-person instruction, Campisi noted the district will utilize all spaces that can be used for instruction, while following numerous health and safety precautions determined by the Restart and Reopening Committee.

“We’re going to utilize every room in the building possible for teaching and learning, which will allow us to spread the student sections out and allow for smaller class sizes, which will help with social distancing,” he added.

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