West Orange Schools Still Undecided About Mask Mandate

WEST ORANGE, NJ — New Jersey’s face mask mandate for K-12 schools is set to expire in March. But in the West Orange Public School District, administrators are still undecided as to whether their own local mandate will be dropped.

Gov. Phil Murphy confirmed Monday that he will drop New Jersey's school mask mandate, effective March 7. But the state will allow individual districts and day care centers to maintain masking requirements after that date. People who want to voluntarily wear masks can continue to do so. Read More: Schools Can Extend Mask Mandate, But NJ Requirement Ends In March

West Orange School Superintendent Scott Cascone gave an update on the mask situation on Tuesday. He wrote:

“As you may be aware, the governor announced that the universal mask mandate for schools and child care settings will be lifted effective March 7. The district is most certainly in receipt of this information as well, and discussions on this topic have already begun at the board level as early as last night. In order to continue to provide the safest environment for our children and employees, the district will consult, as we have always, with the local health department and with our district physician, and will provide opportunities to include our stakeholders which include but are not limited to parents, guardians, caregivers, staff, and students regarding masking.”

“Since masking is but one of the many mitigation strategies utilized in this pandemic, rest assured the district will ensure all other strategies will remain in place uninterrupted,” Cascone said. “You can anticipate follow up communications in this regard.”

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