Mask Mandate Appeal Could Come From Wayne School Board

WAYNE, NJ — A special meeting has been scheduled for Thursday to discuss whether the Wayne Board of Education will follow through with their decision to send a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, asking that he revoke the state mask mandate for schools.

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

At the time of the vote, Superintendent Mark Toback said it was unclear what would happen, as the board would have to discuss internally how to move forward, and then vote on the letter at a public meeting.

That public meeting is now scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m., and it's likely that residents on both sides will have something to say.

So far, petitioners on the pro-mandate side have garnered more signatures, but also published the petition prior to the anti-mandate side.

It's important to remember that neither group — nor the board — has any actual decision-making power in the matter.

That power lies solely with the governor, who has given no indication that he'd consider reversing course. In fact, Murphy took an extra step this week, requiring that New Jersey school teachers and staff, as well as state employees, must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18.

This comes after the governor recently signed an executive order stating that all pre-K-12 school personnel must be vaccinated or undergo regular testing for COVID-19 at least once or twice a week.

"As the school year rapidly approaches, we are continuing to do all that we can to ensure as safe a start as possible," Murphy said. "We know that strong masking and vaccination protocols in tandem with other safety measures are our best consolidated tool for keeping our schools open for full-time in-person instruction and our educational communities safe."

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.

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