Middletown Feuds With Health Agency Over COVID Quarantine

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The mayor of Middletown is publicly feuding with the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission over last week's decision by the Middletown school board to make quarantine optional in all Middletown schools.

The Monmouth County Regional Health Commission is a quasi-governmental agency whose members are appointed by the state. They do not technically fall under the control of Monmouth County government.

Dave Henry, the health officer at the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission, tweeted last Thursday that "he does not recommend" what the Middletown school district is doing.

"The change in quarantine policy at the Middletown Board of Education is not in the interest of community/public health. I do not recommend the policy. Dave Henry, Health Officer- Middletown/MCRHC," Henry tweeted to an NJ.com reporter, using the official Twitter handle of the county health commission, @MCRHC1.

To which Middletown Mayor Tony Perry shot back Thursday night that Middletown is not renewing its partnership with the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission.

"Since the MCRHC prefers to comment on policies on social media and call reporters rather than the policymakers, I guess I can let them know on social media that Middletown will not be renewing its partnership since it isn’t in the best interest of our residents," Perry tweeted on his account just hours after Henry made his criticism.

By Monday morning, Mayor Perry told Patch he intends to follow through and will end Middletown's partnership with the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission starting in the new year. Perry said he will move Middletown over to start working with the Monmouth County Health Department on all matters of public health, including coronavirus.

"The final straw to me is seeing that he (Henry) feels like he is some authority who feels he can speak on behalf of Middletown," said Perry. "Middletown Township does not control the school board. They are an independently elected body and the Board of Education took a unanimous vote to do what they did."

"Why is Dave Henry signing a tweet?," continued Perry. "My issues is that as a policymaker you hope to have open lines of communication with the people you are employing. And it feels like a one-way street with the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission."

When reached by phone Monday morning, Henry told Patch "I'm not feuding with anyone, nor is the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission."

Henry said he "wasn't sure" what Perry meant by Thursday night's tweet and that "Our Health Commission will be meeting in the near future to discuss that."

"I can't make any more comments except what I've already tweeted," said Henry. "Our role is to recommend policy as determined by the state Health Department and the governor. We are looking for alignment with the state's guidance. And we are in very high COVID activity right now. The omicron virus is here in New Jersey and is spreading."

Cases are surging right now across Monmouth County and the state of New Jersey: Monmouth County witnessed a 73 percent spike in new cases in December compared to November.

There are two public health agencies in Monmouth County: The Monmouth County Health Department and a second governmental agency, the County Regional Commission (MCRHC).

The MCRHC provides public health services for 18 of the county's 53 towns; the county health department services the rest.

According to the mayor, Middletown Twp. paid the MCRHC $160,000 a year to provide public health services, most notably in the past year and a half of coronavirus.

For the $160,000 it was paid by Middletown, Perry said the MCRHC mainly provided epidemiologists who guided the town on best practices to combat coronavirus. He said the county Health Dept. can provide those same epidemiologists.

"It's not like they supplied us with vaccines; I went out and got those for the town on my own. It's not like they provided with us testing," said Perry, a Republican. "Also, it's about redundancy. For example, why does Bergen County have 20 health departments? Having gone through this pandemic for almost the past 24 months now, now is the perfect time for a Township to re-evaluate and see where the redundancy is."

Controversial decision by Middletown school board

Last week, the Middletown school board raised eyebrows — across the state — when they unanimously voted to make quarantine optional for any student or teacher who is exposed to a COVID positive.

Up until now, the state Dept. of Health recommended students quarantine for two weeks, but just last Thursday, the state just reduced the recommended quarantine down to seven days with a negative COVID test.

Also, just Friday, the CDC said it also approves the "test to stay" option, where if students or teachers are exposed to COVID, they do not have to quarantine at all and instead come to school every morning and be given a rapid test. If negative, be allowed to stay in class.

“Test-to-stay is an encouraging public health practice to help keep our children in school,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday.

Walensky said she recommends schools either "test to stay" or quarantine.

Parents across New Jersey have been complaining that their children are missing too much school by being forced to stay home for two weeks. Parents also said they had to stay home from work for two weeks to watch their children.

The Middletown school board said 2,400 kids missed more than 30,000 days of school in the past year and less than 1 percent of all children forced to stay home actually came down with coronavirus.

The Dept. of Health confirmed that the two weeks was always a "recommendation" from the state — not a requirement — and said they could not comment further on what Middletown schools are doing, except to say that the state still thinks a two-week quarantine is the safest.

Related: Middletown Schools Make COVID Quarantining Optional

Hazlet Students Must Have Negative Test With 8-Day Quarantine

NJ Schools May Shorten COVID Quarantines Amid New State Guidance

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