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NJ May Allow Kids To Go Maskless At School, Gov. Murphy Says - Cinnaminson, NJ - Gov. Phil Murphy acknowledged that students may go maskless in September as the state navigates the pandemic.
UpdatedThu, May 27, 2021 at 10:14 am ET
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(Thomas Costello/Gannett)
TRENTON, NJ Gov. Phil Murphy reiterated his position that New Jersey students and staff likely still be wearing masks when the 2021-22 school year starts in September, but he did offer wiggle room for high school students and others who already have been vaccinated.
Murphy, speaking during his Wednesday news conference, first acknowledged that his statements were predictions and that a lot could change by early September. My guess is we re likely to be masked, for the simple reason that only a couple weeks ago were we able to get 12- to 15-year-olds vaccinated, Murphy said in reply to a reporter s question about letters from two Ocean County school districts urging him to drop the mask mandate.
The major remaining exception to Governor Murphy’s decision to end the New Jersey mask mandate
is kids in schools, Save Jerseyans. Despite a dearth of evidence that kids are (1) at high risk for COVID-19 or (2) highly-likely to spread it to more vulnerable people, our children are still masked as one school year ends and another is on the horizon. The scientifically-bankrupt exception covers summer camps, too.
A growing chorus of folks in the education community are speaking out about it; on Monday, the president of the Toms River BOE wrote directly to Murphy asking him to end the “unnecessary” mask mandate:
Should kids wear masks in school?
An Ocean County schools superintendent says no, and he is asking Gov. Phil Murphy to drop the mask mandate.
Triantafillos Parlapanides runs the Central Regional School District. He believes the risk of infection among children is low and says any teacher that wanted to get vaccinated, is vaccinated, and classrooms are safe. Therefore, he said to Murphy, I am respectively asking that you repeal Executive Order 175 so that students can breathe and that at graduation, parents can see their child s face.”
Parlapanides also cited a number of health statistics in his letter, arguing less than 10% of documented COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have been between the ages of 5 and 17.