Gov. Phil Murphy Is Not Listening To Parents, Says Bridgewater Mayor

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater Mayor Matthew Moench expressed his disapproval after Gov. Phil Murphy once again extended the K-12 mask mandate on Tuesday.

"With the 'endless emergency' still going and reimplementation of his mask mandate in schools, it's clear that Governor Murphy doesn't understand the message being sent to him by parents across the state," said Moench. "Decisions about what's best for our children and how our local schools are run should be made by the people of our communities. Being vigilant against COVID-19 should never come at the detriment of our children’s mental health."

Murphy again declared another public health emergency in New Jersey on Tuesday, citing the extremely high numbers of COVID positives. Read More: NJ Public Health Emergency Extended To Fight 'Omicron Tsunami'

By declaring the state of emergency, Murphy is able to unilaterally extend a number of his emergency executive orders, all of which were set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. He does not need agreement from the state Legislature.

Some of those orders that would have otherwise expired Tuesday night include the K-12 mask mandate in NJ schools and twice-weekly mandated COVID testing for teachers and healthcare workers who are not vaccinated.

"Last year, I immediately condemned ⁦[Gov. Murphy] for flip-flopping on his position & mandating masks for students - a policy he extended to kids as young as two! It was a bad idea then, & it still is today. This decision should be left up to parents," tweeted Jack Ciattarelli.

As of Wednesday, New Jersey is reporting 19,454 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 103 new deaths.

Somerset County reported 292 positive cases as of Wednesday.

Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Schools are currently operating with in-person instruction and have reported a total of 123 cases from Jan. 8 through Jan. 12.

Here is a breakdown of each school:

• Adamsville - 9
• Bradley Gardens - 5
• Crim - 11
• Hamilton - 4
• Kennedy - 4
• Milltown - 1
• Van Holten - 6
• Hillside - 10
• Eisenhower - 10
• Middle School - 22
• High School - 41
• District Support Staff - 0

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