Masks Optional In Toms River Schools Still The Plan For Fall

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Regional School District students and staff still will have the option on whether to wear masks in school in September, the superintendent said Wednesday, even as masking guidance amid the COVID-19 pandemic has changed.

Interim Superintendent Thomas Gialanella said Wednesday the district still plans to make masking optional for students and staff when school opens in September, a reiteration of remarks he made at the July 21 school board meeting.

The Centers for Disease Control this week said vaccinated Americans should return to wearing a mask indoors in public places, particularly in areas with "substantial and high transmission" of coronavirus. The CDC change comes as infection rates have risen significantly across the country, fueled by the delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19.

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Ocean County has seen a spike in several metrics, according to CDC data. There has been a 57 percent increase in the number of cases over the last seven days, and 209 percent increase in the number of people hospitalized in Ocean County with COVID-19, to 34 patients. The percent positivity has risen to 4.73, and part of a steady climb in the number since the beginning of July.

On Wednesday Gov. Phil Murphy and state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli urged all residents to return to mask-wearing indoors, in response to the increasing transmission.

"Our metrics are trending in the wrong direction, and new data suggests the delta variant is more transmissible even among vaccinated individuals, which is why we are making this strong recommendation," said Murphy and Persichilli in a joint statement.

Discussion of the increases has some parents concerned that a return to statewide mask mandates is in the offing. Murphy has said that is not the case, even as districts prepare for full-day, fully in-school instruction in the fall.

"The CDC matters a lot to us," Murphy said Monday during a coronavirus news briefing. "We largely look to the CDC for a lot of guidance. We always take that into consideration, but you have to take into account the reality of what your state looks like. A national recommendation may or may not be consistent with the facts on the ground."

The state is not mandating the use of masks among unvaccinated students, but leaving the decisions up to school districts, Murphy said, continuing a change he made in May, as schools contended with a heat wave and urged the state to let local officials decide.

Parents have peppered the Toms River school board going back to May, demanding the board and the district administration make masks optional regardless of any edicts issued by the state.

"The long-term psychological effects are the next hurdle we face as a community," one parent said, as some shared stories of children being reprimanded for taking masks off. "Children are anxious. They are depressed. This is child abuse and it needs to stop."

"As parents of this community we chose you to make the decisions that are best for our community," another parent said. "We want to know what you're doing to untie your hands. Break the silence and fight for our children."

"It's my belief we're going to make masks optional for the fall, as long as the state allows us to make that decision," Gialanella said at the July 21 board meeting.

The district was one of a few around the state to urge Murphy in May to make masks optional as the state experienced a heatwave and students were stuck in hot classrooms.

"We've gone above and beyond with measures including desk dividers, additional PPE, air purifiers and, of course, a mask mandate. We even installed a Covid Counter for full transparency on our website," board president Joseph Nardini wrote in a letter to Murphy's office in May. "We believe masks are unnecessary. The vast majority of our staff have been fully vaccinated, and the risk that Covid-19 poses to our student population — many of whom will also be vaccinated heading into next year — is extremely low, and not inclusive of the more dramatic symptoms and health problems known to affect older adults."

Murphy announced local districts would be able to make the masks decision a short time later, and Toms River responded by making masking optional.

They have remained optional since then.

While New Jersey has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the country, Ocean County has remained below Murphy's goal of 70 percent of the adult population getting vaccinated.

According to the CDC data, 62.6 percent of Ocean County residents 18 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, and 54.9 percent are fully vaccinated. For those age 65 and older, for whom the risks associated with the virus are higher, 81.7 percent have received at least one dose and 73.1 percent are fully vaccinated.

With reporting by Alexis Tarrazi, Carly Baldwin and Anthony Bellano

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