Middletown BOE President: March 7 Too Late To Make Masks Optional

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that New Jersey's school mask mandate will end March 7 — but that isn't soon enough for Middletown school board president Frank Capone.

Capone has long said masks in schools should be optional, effective immediately, and that Gov. Murphy has too much executive power, calling him "King Murphy" in Middletown school board meetings.

"The time for ending this draconian one-person mandate based on political science is today, not next month," said Capone Monday after Murphy's big announcement. "The only scientific truth to continue mask mandates in school is continued learning loss and mental and emotional damage to our students and staff."

Starting March 7, it is expected that mask mandates will be optional and determined by local school districts. It will most likely fall to individual school boards to take a vote on whether mask wearing should be required.

Former Republican New Jersey governor candidate Jack Ciattarelli predicted Murphy's decision will only lead to "school board battles."

"In leaving it up to locals, he’s going to turn school board meetings into battlegrounds and pit communities against each other," Ciattarelli posted on Facebook Tuesday. "Where we are today, the policy should be no state or local mandate, with parents deciding whether their child wears a mask."

Capone also pointed out that New Jersey is among only 11 U.S. states that have continued mask mandates in schools. New Jersey's school mandate has been in effect since Sept. 2020.

"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," said Capone.

Many Republican lawmakers agree with Capone, slamming Murphy's March 7 date.

“March seventh is an arbitrary date that doesn’t have scientific backing,” said Assemblyman Chris DePhillips, a Bergen County Republican. “What is the rationale behind a one-month delay?”

Marcy 7 is long overdue, say Assemblyman Robert Auth and Assemblywoman DeAnne DeFuccio.

"Governor Murphy has finally decided to take the muzzle off our children, but he should have never had that type of power in the first place,” said Auth, also from Bergen County. “It’s obvious that the masks have done more harm than good. The state shouldn’t replace parents — parents must always have the sole discretion to make masking and medical decisions.”

In January, the day his K-12 mask mandate was going to expire, Murphy declared another public health emergency citing the omicron variant. This gave him the power to reinstitute the school mask mandate.

The state teachers' union, the New Jersey Education Association, said they support the March 7 date — but cautioned the governor to bring masks back if necessary.

"As of today, that data is trending strongly in the right direction, and we look forward to additional public health guidance supporting the move away from mandatory masking in schools,” said the NJEA in a statement Monday. “We urge Gov. Murphy to continue to analyze the data and do whatever is necessary to best protect the health and well-being of students and staff. That includes the possibility of maintaining or reimposing the mask mandate for schools after March 7 if the data indicate that is the correct course."

Get great local NJ news. Sign up for Patch emails: https://patch.com/subscribe Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com