Hudson County Schools of Technology Superintendent Amy Lin-Rodriguez is renewing he call to the New Jersey Department of Education to again allow remote learning.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Last month’s weather event and subsequent state of emergency declaration underscores how critical it is that schools be given the flexibility to use remote learning, when appropriate, to limit further learning loss,” she said in a statement.
“Permitting our district and others to utilize remote learning during these situations provides an opportunity to put the safety of our students/staff first by eliminating the chance of placing them in a dangerous travel situation, while ensuring that they will be given the educational support they need.”
On October 26th, many Hudson County schools, including the HCST institutions, closed due to a pending storm where two to four inches of rain were expected, though largely did not materialize.
Since remote learning, utilized in the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, is no longer permitted in place of in-person learning, students had the day off.
” … We should not be in the practice of gambling with our students’ safety or with their education when there is a clear alternative option that would solve this problem. We should be able to utilize the remote learning infrastructure that we effectively planned and implemented last year,” Lin-Rodriguez continued.
The NJ DOE declined to respond to her remarks.
However, according to state statute, remote instruction will not count towards the state mandated 180-day requirement unless a state of emergency caused school closures for more than three consecutive school days.
