Wayne BOE To Ask Gov. Murphy To Revoke K-12 Mask Mandate

WAYNE, NJ — The Wayne Board of Education presented a return to school plan for the fall amid parent protests over a masking policy that was instituted by Gov. Phil Murphy earlier this summer.

That policy mandated that K-12 students mask up as community COVID-19 transmission remains "high" in Passaic County, and most of the state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though the board doesn't have the power to revoke the mandate in Wayne schools, TapInto reports that the board voted to write a letter to Murphy, urging him to revoke the mandate for school districts.

According to the publication, the motion was passed by a vote of 4-3. Two board members weren't present at the meeting.

Superintendent Mark Toback confirmed the vote to Patch in an email on Friday, but said "at this point, I would say that it is unclear about exactly what will happen."

Toback said that although the board agreed to write the letter after some discussion, its members will still need to agree on the content of it and eventually vote to send it to the governor.

"The process would involve another meeting where the BOE would be able to further discuss the letter," Toback added.

The parent rallies — the latest edition of which took place prior to Thursday's meeting, Northjersey.com reported — were a key component to the motion being made at all, Trustee Sean Duffy told TapInto.

“It’s clear that the majority of the public, who have come to our meetings, have a distaste for the governor’s mask mandate for schools,” said Duffy.

Though the parents were excited about the development at the meeting, it's not yet set in stone that the letter will be sent, or how far the demands will go.

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