New Jersey Will Allow Parents to Choose All-Remote Learning This Fall

New Jersey parents will be able to choose all-remote learning for their children when schools reopen this fall.

New Jersey's Governor Phil Murphy made the announcement during his daily COVID-19 briefing in Trenton midday Monday (July 20).

“The Department of Education will be releasing guidance allowing for parents to choose all-remote learning for their children,” Murphy said during Monday's press briefing.

The exact nature of this plan was not immediately clear.

“Again, the details will be coming out later this week, but we wanted everyone to know now that we will allow for this step," Murphy said.

Back in June, the state's department of education released guidance allowing schools to reopen for the 2020-2021 school year. The plan appeared to mandate some in-person instruction, but it largely left the procedures for those reopening plans up to the individual school districts.

All reopening plans must be approved by state officials, but they called for a slew of safety procedures including masks, social distancing policies, and more.

School districts across the state (and nation) have been scrambling to release their plans. Many local plans released so far appear to include a hybrid of virtual and in-person instruction for students.

The governor also announced that he will sign an executive order to allow contact sports to resume immediately in the state. Contact drills, practices, and competitions for "high-risk sports" (including football) can resume on Monday. Practices must be held outside, and they will have to abide by a number of safety protocols, Murphy said on Monday.