Schools

Mask Mandate Appeal Voted Down By Wayne School Board

The Wayne Township Board of Education won't send a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy requesting that he revoke the school mask mandate.

WAYNE, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy may be getting letters from school boards asking that he revoke the K-12 mask mandate in the coming days, but he won't get one from Wayne Township.

The letter to Murphy secured four votes from board members, but didn't secure the needed fifth vote to get the letter signed, sealed and delivered to the governor's office.

The board voted by a mark of 4-3 in favor of sending a letter to the governor at their last meeting, but had seen petitions gain support both for and against the mandate in the days since.

Find out what's happening in Waynefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Though the board won't actually be sending an appeal, Wayne isn't the only community in New Jersey to push back against the mandate, with Middletown being the latest community to send a resolution to the governor's office.

It's important to note that neither school boards nor petitioners have any power to revoke the mandate locally, only Murphy — who has shown no interest in doing so — can revoke the mandate.

Find out what's happening in Waynefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

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