Lakewood board cancels school reopening meeting; worries persist over COVID-19

LAKEWOOD - The Lakewood Board of Education canceled Wednesday's public meeting "due to power outage," according to a message posted on its website, putting off discussion on reopening schools.

The message was posted about 35 minutes before the 7:30 p.m. meeting was due to start. The board's conference meeting was scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

The move forestalled discussion on the district's plans to reopen schools.

District staff and teachers have expressed misgivings about the district's plans, contending the schools won't be ready until at least January.   

In an email to district officials and the Press, Kelly Lee, identified as a Lakewood Education Association member, asked the board "to reconsider full-time in-person education for the 2020-2021 school year until all of our questions/concerns are addressed and rectified so that it is safe for all students and staff to return."

Lee’s message also included the hashtag #OnlyWhenItsSafe. 

Board attorney and spokesperson Michael Inzelbuch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Lakewood Board of Education canceled its public meeting last minute "due to power outage."

More than 200,000 Shore residents were without power a day after Tropical Storm Isaías hit the area. In Ocean County, 62,373 customers remained without power, about a quarter of all Jersey Central Power and Light customers in the county. Lakewood was the town with the third-most outages: 6,589 (20% of customers).

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Wednesday's agenda included a vote on the "COVID-19-compliant" busing bids. Student transportation is one of many pieces in the board's plan to fully reopen schools by Sept. 4.

The board had previously approved a plan to bring back some 6,500 students to their classrooms for five-days-a-week in-person instruction following a COVID-19 protocol that included social distancing, wearing face masks, Plexiglas shields on desks and a biweekly nasal swab test for the new coronavirus.

A great majority of parents support the reopening plan, but also raise concern over crowding and the biweekly nasal swabs, among other issues. They also acknowledge that a complete reopening of schools would be a risky endeavor.

The district said earlier this week it had tested 360 of the 700 students attending summer programs. None of these students has tested positive, the district said.  

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Superintendent Laura S. Winters didn't respond to a request for comment. The board meeting has been rescheduled for Aug. 12.

Gustavo Martínez Contreras covers Lakewood. Contact him at gmartinez@gannettnj.com or at 732-643-4061.