Here we go again: NJ school goes remote because of COVID outbreak (Opinion)

You’ve heard the old adage: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In another case of COVID-19 overreaction and hysteria, the Robbinsville school district has made the unfortunate decision to cancel in-person classes for this week.

Previously they had made the decision to cancel their Community Day, which is sad, but not a big deal. That cancellation will probably not affect the education and the lives of Robbinsville students in any meaningful way. Suspending in-person learning, though, will.

The decision was announced in a letter from Superintendent Brian Betze on Robbinsville and shared on a Robbinsville Facebook page.

They have got to be kidding. If every school in New Jersey starts canceling in-person classes again every time there’s an outbreak of COVID-19, we should just go back to all-remote learning, which, as we learned last year the hard way, is barely learning at all.

Betze also noted that even though there were cases in the other two schools in the district, those schools, Pond Road Middle School and Sharon Elementary, would remain open.

The comments following the Facebook post show that the the opinions from parents are typically vitriolic: “How dare you let your unvaccinated kid infect mine!” And “How dare you force my kid to stay home!”

Parents are probably just tired of this insanity and the back-and-forth that they and their children and families have had to endure. I think one of the parents said it best and his comment that described his worry about kids being off for the week.

He wrote:

I am concerned this is going to do nothing but increase Covid cases in Robbinsville. We are having teenagers leave a sterile and sanitized building where masks are required regardless of vaccination status. They are now home alone with no incentive to wear masks but still have the desire to hang out with friends (more than likely maskless!) Parents are at work now with no mandates to let them stay home. This is going to end badly.

Indeed.

Then other parents chimed in and agreed, saying that kids would likely be off at the malls and running around with their friends without the precautions that they normally take in school like masking and social distancing so that this "break" would probably be counterproductive.

Here we go again. It just goes to show you that some people have learned nothing from the events of this past year. And also that the fear mongering over this virus has worked.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi Franco’s own.