Toms River Regional Schools Going Mask Optional When Mandate Ends

TOMS RIVER, NJ — On March 7, Toms River Regional Schools students and staff will get to decide whether or not to wear masks in the school buildings.

The district announced its plan to go mask optional on Wednesday night during the committee meetings of the regional district's Board of Education, which represents Toms River, Beachwood, South Toms River and Pine Beach.

Interim Superintendent Stephen Genco said the district will be mask optional on March 7 when the statewide mask mandate in schools is lifted.

"As I came on (as superintendent) I said we would be following the governor's mandates, however, I'd prefer to be mask optional and make those choices be choices the parents could have," said Genco, who took over as interim superintendent Aug. 1, not long before Gov. Phil Murphy mandated masks in school buildings for the start of the 2021-22 school year.

Murphy on Monday said the mandate will be lifted as of March 7 because the state Department of Health is seeing steep drops in the number of infections and the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19.

Genco said the data for the Toms River area shows cases have fallen almost to the low point they had been at last spring.

"Moving to mask optional does make sense so that is what the Toms River school district will be doing," Genco said.

While lots of other districts have put out letters stating their plans to make masks optional, Genco said he had wanted to wait to make a definitive statement because there are still so many issues — including quarantining — that have to be addressed. The bulk of the issues cannot be addressed until the state Department of Health issues its guidance, Genco said.

"I'd like to put out the official letter once we have some of that guidance and can answer some of those questions," he said.

State officials have made the pandemic process extremely difficult on school districts because of guidance that was slow to be issued and changing sometimes multiple times in a day, so waiting to see the guidance on the end of the mask mandate has been a common response of districts across the state.

One area that will be unchanged for the time being is busing; students and staff will still be required to wear masks on school buses as they are covered by the federal rules. Read more: NJ Kids Still Have To Wear Masks On Buses Even After March 7

"As always, I'd like to put out one message and I'd like to put it out correct," Genco said. "Once we have that, we certainly will be putting something out to the community, but for now I did want to make that statement because I wanted the communtiy to know the direction we're going."

On Thursday, the district posted a brief statement reiterating Genco's statement, saying it plans to move to mask optional when the mandate ends.

"We plan to do so, however, while remaining committed to the health and safety of all individuals, and to that end we await the forthcoming guidance from the NJDeptofHealth. Once received and reviewed, we will communicate directly with our parents and families on our plans moving forward."

"We have reached a point where we feel confident that we can take another step toward normalcy for our kids," Murphy said Monday. "Given the continued drop in new cases and hospitalizations, projections indicating a continued decline over the coming weeks, and the continued growth of vaccinations for our school-aged population, we believe that we can responsibly end the universal mask mandate."

The announcement said school districts and child care facilities can continue to require masks after the mandate is lifted, but school districts cannot bar anyone from wearing masks.

Murphy allowed districts some leeway in the late spring and the early fall when summer temperatures made classrooms that lack air conditioning unbearably hot. But that was a temporary measure that only fueled the debate over the masks.

State health officials said guidance will be released to school districts before the mandate is lifted "to help school districts update their policies to align with the risks and unique needs of their setting and student population to ensure safe learning environments."

"The Department will develop guidance that incorporates all aspects of safety in schools while children are unmasked," Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. "We know that every parent wants to do what’s best for their children."

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