Hillside Public Schools to Stay Remote Despite Phil Murphy's Push

Slowly but surely things are starting to get back to normal. This time last year, New Jersey was in the beginning of full lockdown mode. People started working from home and schools started going remote. Now here we are a year later and though we're still battling this global pandemic, we are trying to adjust to this new way of living. Governor Phil Murphy has been pushing for more students across New Jersey to go back to the classrooms, urging that it is safe to do so. However, one school district refuses to go back to in person learning until next school year.

Hillside Public schools have chosen to stick to remote learning the remainder of the semester just for extra precaution. According to NJ.com, school officials say that this decision was made to keep some consistency in what has been a very unstable year.

“This has really been driven by consistency and not wanting to send our families on a roller coaster, if you will,” Hillside Schools Superintendent A. Robert Gregory said.

Gregory has publicly stated that he supports Phil Murphy's push for kids to be back in the classrooms, however its just not the right timing for his schools.

“If there’s one thing I think we can all agree on, it’s important to have the perspective of each community, and every community is different,” he said.

This wasn't just a school board decision either. According to NJ.com, the district did a survey and it revealed that a majority of the students' parents wanted learning to stay remote as well.

“When it comes to our most valuable resource, which is our children, we have to create the most stable environment for them,” Gregory said.