Middletown BOE Member: Adjust School Mask Order For Evening Hours

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The Middletown Board of Education will meet at the VFW hall this Wednesday night for their final meeting in September. And they will likely continue to meet there as long as Gov. Phil Murphy's Executive Order 251 is in place, which mandates masks be worn in public schools, even after hours when few to no students are in the building.

The meeting location was moved because Middletown BOE vice president Frank Capone maintains that acting NJ Attorney General Andrew Bruck sent a letter to county prosecutors, telling them local police must enforce mask wearing inside school buildings at all times.

However, Patch has been unable to verify this letter exists.

In fact, Capone said Monday one of the main reasons the meeting was moved was so Middletown Police would not have to enforce mask wearing — and avoid skirmishes such as unmasked parents being ticketed or written summonses from police officers.

"Our attorney reviewed the AG statement to the Monmouth County prosecutor regarding mask enforcement at BOE meetings," said Capone. "There is no reason to put the Board or the Township police in a position to enforce masks after school hours just because the meeting is on school grounds."

Capone also said Murphy should change the executive order, so masks are not required in school buildings in the evenings.

"The executive order should be amended during school hours, and we will adjust accordingly," he said. "We want to keep these meetings as open to all of the public as possible. We have had groups from several towns across the state attend our meetings. Every other private/public meeting in the state can occur without mask mandates."

"I should also point out Governor Murphy and Angelica Allen-McMillan, acting DOE Commissioner gave a press conference last week mask-less in a Palisades Park school. Based on the executive order, other than eating or drinking at no time should masks be off unless you are unconscious or incapacitated. I don’t blame him though; it is very difficult to communicate with a mask on. The EO isn’t well written and should be amended.”

Murphy's team previously declined to respond to Capone.

The president of the New Brunswick school board confirmed the county prosecutor admonished him in a "stern" written warning in late August for not wearing a mask at a BOE meeting. That letter was signed by the Middlesex County Prosecutor and cc'd acting NJ Attorney General Andrew Bruck, as well as State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan, among others.

Related: NJ Prosecutor Reprimands BOE President For Not Wearing Mask (Sept. 21)

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