| TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblyman Brian Bergen called on Gov. Phil Murphy to immediately implement the new social distancing guidelines issued Friday from the Centers for Disease Control, which allow students to sit three-feet apart instead of six feet.
The updates were made after the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases published a study suggesting schools could safely reopen with proper measures, such as requiring masks.
“Governor Murphy hasn’t hesitated to use his seemingly immense power to force schools to close,” said Bergen (R-Morris). “If it’s about the science, he should immediately reopen them.”
Thursday marked one year since New Jersey schools closed and transitioned to all-remote learning or hybrid schedules. Schools with small classroom sizes have been unable to accommodate students who want in person learning and when they can, it has been on a cohort schedule, not every day.
“It is an indisputable fact that the best thing to do for our children’s education is in-person education,” continued Bergen. “The governor has the ability to get more kids back into in-person learning where our teachers, parents, and the students themselves all want them to be.”
International studies in France, Ireland, Singapore, and stateside studies in Atlanta, North Carolina and Wisconsin previously showed that schools could safely reopen even earlier.
“This can’t wait another day,” concluded Bergen. “Open the schools. Everyone wants this to happen. Governor Murphy, make it happen.”
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