On Tuesday March 23rd, the Mount Laurel District Board of Education (BOE) held their regular meeting. Mount Laurel School District (MLSD) Superintendent Dr. George Rafferty presented two plans for the BOE to consider for re-opening the Mount Laurel School District. Option A would collapse the current system of MLSD cohorts A and B into one single Cohort C. Cohort C would be in-person learning for 4 hours in the morning and then dismissal to remote learning at home for the afternoon. Option B would utilize the single Cohort C for in-person learning, but would instead increase the length of the school day to a full day of learning. Option B also included a lunch period.
Mount Laurel teachers who spoke during the public portion expressed concern about how the school district would handle lunches. According to Superintendent Rafferty, lunch service would maintain the 6-foot distance between students, with all available space, including classrooms, utilized for lunch.
Many parents and two children spoke during the public portion of the meeting before the board voted on which option they would pursue. Parents vocalized their concerns about the increased mental health crisis and the increase of substance abuse among children throughout the country. They thanked the teachers for doing the best that they could during the pandemic, but clearly expressed wishes to see a full return to in-person learning.
Ultimately, the BOE voted 6-3 to adopt Option B. Dr. Rafferty will be working with the District Reopening Committee, the District Reopening Subcommittees, the School Based Pandemic Response Teams, and the Teacher and Administrative teams to implement a full 5 day in-person reopening plan for the Mount Laurel School District. This plan is scheduled to take effect on April 26th, 2021.
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