By Allison Perrine
NEW JERSEY – Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the state will take “another step toward normalcy” and revoke the in-school mask mandate amid declining new cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday.
Local leaders such as Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-13), however, argue that the measure is “long overdue” and that the mandate was “unnecessary” and “destructive.” Some have even protested the mandate and abandoned related requirements, including the Middletown Township School District which in December revoked a requirement for students exposed to the virus to quarantine.
“Quarantining is a nice way to say ‘banning healthy children from attending,’ ” O’Scanlon said Monday. “Forcing healthy, asymptomatic kids to stay home after suspected exposures hasn’t reduced transmission in our schools. Instead, it’s cost our kids thousands of unrecoverable school days and precious experiences. Middletown has successfully demonstrated that schools can remain safe while minimizing missed days for students and maximizing the quality of education delivered to our children. Every school district across New Jersey should follow this example.”
The in-school mask mandate will remain in place until March 7 when the policy will become optional. At that time, if schools choose not to continue a universal masking policy, Murphy suggests the institutions revisit their COVID-19 policies to utilize masking and other prevention methods under specific circumstances. Schools will not be permitted to ban the use of face coverings and “will be expected to take disciplinary action” if bullying arises due to an individual’s choice to continue wearing a mask.
“I must thank the overwhelming majority of students, parents, administrators, educators and support staffers who have worn their masks without problem or protest since our schools reopened for in-person learning. Thankfully, we have reached a point where we feel confident that we can take another step toward normalcy for our kids,” said Murphy. “Given the continued drop in new cases and hospitalizations, projections indicating a continued decline over the coming weeks, and the continued growth of vaccinations for our school-aged population, we believe that we can responsibly end the universal mask mandate.”
According to Judy Persichilli, state health commissioner, the New Jersey Department of Health will develop guidance that incorporates safety in schools while children are unmasked.
“We know that every parent wants to do what’s best for their children,” she said.
And some feel acting immediately is what’s best.
Middletown Board of Education President Frank Capone told The Two River Times that the time to end “this draconian one-person mandate based on political science is today, not next month.
“The only scientific truth to continue mask mandates in school is continued learning loss and mental and emotional damage to our students and staff. Forty states have had mask optional policies since the beginning of their school year, and the data clearly shows no positive correlation between these mandates and effective mitigation,” Capone said.
Similar sentiments were echoed elsewhere in Middletown. At the Feb. 7 township committee meeting, officials approved a resolution opposing the extension of executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the resolution, the governor’s temporary emergency powers served a purpose at the start of the pandemic “when the virus was spreading rapidly, vaccines and treatments were unavailable,” and the health care system was “overwhelmed.” The township argues that now, “despite these conditions subsiding through the development of vaccines, therapies and a better understanding of the science behind the virus,” Murphy, a Democrat, has renewed the public health emergency every 30 days thereafter until last June.
The state Legislature granted him the power to continue cer tain emergency powers through Jan. 11 of this year, when Murphy then requested an extension of those powers for another 90 days.
The Legislature “refused” his requested extension, the resolution continues, but Murphy “ignored the will of the Legislature” and announced Jan. 12 that he would reinstate a public health emergency, “thereby allowing himself the ability to continue statewide mandates without the proper checks and balances required under State Constitution,” the resolution reads.
After Murphy’s Jan. 12 announcement, Sens. O’Scan- lon, a Republican, and Vin Gopal (D-11), a Democrat, sponsored Senate Bill No. 1200 which would allow the Legislature to terminate certain declarations enacted by the governor including a state of emergency or public health emergency. It would also limit the duration of the declarations unless the Legislature approves an extension. As part of Middletown’s latest resolution, the township supports Bill No. 1200 and “believes that it is well past time to return to the regular order of government in the State of New Jersey.”
Gopal wrote Feb. 2 that his decision to co-sponsor the bill was not partisan motivated.
“It is important that there be a check and balance of power, regardless of whether the Governor is a Democrat or Republican – not just on this governorship, but all future governorships,” he said. “If the Governor was Republican and the bill was the exact same, I question how many of my Republican colleagues would or wouldn’t support the same bill because of the party of their Governor. The residents of Monmouth County want their elected leaders to move away from that type of partisanship. I will always put the residents of Monmouth County before politics.”
While the CDC and state stress the impor tance of vaccines and boosters for COVID-19 protection, data shows masking can signifi- cantly reduce the spread of the virus when cases are rising.
This article originally appeared in the Feb. 10-16, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
