“Many volunteers are devoting their time because they care about what September will look like,” said Robertozzi, “and I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge their tireless effort and commitment to this endeavor.” The committee consists of four “Pillar Committees”, focusing on Health, Safety, Cleanliness, Building Level Planning; Instruction, Format, Curriculum; Operations and Governance; and Finance. The committees are further broken down into subcommittees, all with the intended goal of providing safety and a sense of normalcy for students in September. One element of securing that normalcy is finding a way to reintroduce sports. There is an Athletics Subcommittee under Pillar 1 that is led by Athletic Director Tom Mullahey and is dedicated to the return of sports. Robertozzi, who sits on the NJSIAA executive committee representing superintendents of Passaic County, remains realistic about the return of fall sports. “Playing any kind of contact sport inherently has a risk, and now that risk is exacerbated by COVID-19,” he said. “One thing I am comfortable with are procedures we have in place for student athletes and coaches who are symptomatic or positive.” “To get back to some sense of normalcy, we have to have sports,” he added, “but we want to do it in as safe a manner as possible.” However, Robertozzi acknowledged there is no onesize-fits-all level of comfort for parents when deciding if
they feel confident in sending their child back to school. Something that he stressed in the planning is that there will be a “parallel remote learning option” for students if their parents do not believe it is safe to return to school. “Parents will have an option of going completely remote,” he said. “The overarching goal is to give parents options, … [and the hope is with] multiple options, at least we can ease some of our parents’ concern about opening schools in September.” Above all else, Robertozzi expressed pride in faculty and staff for how they “changed their entire job overnight” and “adapted to a new reality.” Their efforts in making that emotional connection with students, he said, goes a long way for the future. “What I really want parents to know is, the safety of their children will come first with every decision made in September,” said Robertozzi. “We have to focus on the health and well being of students and staff before we can get into the real learning,” he continued. “After making sure that kids and adults are healthy mentally and have what they need, you can move onto other things like learning.”
Cliftonmagazine.com • August 2020
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