After several false starts over the last two months, public schools in Montclair, N.J., an affluent New York City suburb, were finally set to reopen Monday for the first time since the pandemic shut them down in March. Students, sorted into two groups, the Mounties and the Bulldogs, would attend school in person two days a week and log in remotely the other three — a hybrid model of instruction that has enabled a majority of districts in New Jersey and the country’s largest public school system, New York City, to reopen. Then the township’s powerful teachers’ union stepped in, and the plan was abruptly scrapped. “We are so sad,” Heather Weiss, a mother of two Montclair public school students, said soon after the superintendent announced late Friday, “with deep regret,” that he did not have enough teachers to properly staff the district’s schools. The decision to keep schools closed indefinitely capped a tense week in a community known for its liberal politics: Elementary teachers, citing coronavirus safety concerns, boycotted in-school prep sessions in defiance of the superintendent, and a heated board of education meeting on Wednesday lasted until nearly midnight.

Source: New York Times January 25, 2021 18:17 UTC