Posted on 08/07/2021 8:56:26 AM PDT by lightman
Insisting it’s “the right thing” to do to combat a new rise in COVID-19, N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday announced his state will mandate students in preschool through 12th grade, as well as staff members and visitors, to wear masks inside all schools when the new academic year begins with in-person classes.
Murphy announced the executive order at an elementary school in East Brunswick, where more than a hundred protestors — including many parents with their children — loudly opposed the move. They repeatedly shouted, “My child, my choice!” And they carried signs reading, “Unmask our kids!”
“This is not an announcement that gives any of us or me personally any pleasure,” Murphy said during the event, held a few weeks before the start of classes. “But as the school year approaches, and with the numbers rapidly increasing, it is the one that we need to make.”
Murphy added that “anyone telling you that we can safely reopen our schools without requiring everyone inside to wear a mask is quite simply lying to you.”
“Because we can’t,” the Democratic governor said.
New Jersey’s requirement applies to all public, private, parochial, charter, and renaissance schools and to anyone inside those buildings, regardless of vaccination status. Murphy said schools will not be allowed to opt out of the mandate.
New Jersey’s COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are still well below the pandemic peaks, and numbers overall here are not as bad as other states. But the state’s seven-day average for newly confirmed positive tests is now 1,109 — five times higher than a month ago — as the highly transmissible delta variant surges across the country. Hospitalizations have more than doubled in that time. New Jersey on Friday reported another 1,249 confirmed coronavirus cases and seven additional confirmed deaths.
Murphy held firm that despite those numbers, all 600 school districts in the Garden State are still on track to open for full-time in-person instruction in the fall, without a virtual option, after more than 16 months of upheaval. He noted state officials “remain steadfast in the recognition that our children learn better in a classroom setting tailored for their educations.”
But the governor said masks are needed because of delta’s “recent and rampant spread,” no children under the age of 12 in the U.S. are eligible to be vaccinated yet, and ”too many” older children remain unvaccinated.
It’s unclear when children under 12 will be authorized for the vaccine. State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said 46% of children 12 to 18 in New Jersey have gotten their shots and the state will make a push to increase that figure in the coming weeks.
This is the second time Murphy has shifted on masks students. The governor, who is running for re-election in November, said in May that face coverings would be likely in the 2021-22 academic year.
Then, he announced in June the state planned not to have a statewide requirement for masks in school and would instead leave it up to individual districts to determine their own rules on face coverings. But numbers at that time were lower, and Murphy said mask plans could change quickly if they deteriorate “dramatically.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also announced last month it’s recommending everyone in K-12 schools in America to mask up to fight the delta variant. The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends face coverings. And the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, has backed the CDC’s guidance on masks.
Murphy said Friday he doesn’t plan this to be a “permanent decision,” and he will lift it if there’s a “meaningful improvement” in the state’s data. He stressed more people getting vaccinated will help.
As Murphy’s motorcade approached the building Friday, the protestors chanted, “We will vote you out!” One held a sign that read, “King Murphy … leave our kids alone!”
Constantine Papasavvas of Whitehouse Station questioned the science of the governor’s move. He noted that of the more than 615,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., 358 are of children.
“There’s no reason for my child to be muzzled and wear a mask all day in school,” Papasavvas said, adding he will send his child back to school without a mask.
“If they want to kick him out for not wearing a mask, then they’ll kick him out, and then we’ll file a lawsuit,” he said.
Numerous Republican officials also expressed dismay Friday, stressing it’s less likely for children to catch serious COVID-19 cases. Some argue masking can have negative psychological effects on kids.
New Jersey, home to more than 1 million students, has reported 281 COVID-19 outbreaks linked to in-school activities, causing 1,263 cases, according to state data.
Murphy’s Republican opponent in November’s race, former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, said it should be up to parents, not the governor, whether children wear a mask.
“They should feel free to do so, but it’s not something that should be forced on children, nor should their learning be inhibited in any way,” Ciattarelli said.
NJ ping!
I would suggest these parents unmask their own kids. Politicians aren’t going to help us.
Public K-12 has outlived its usefullness. It’s time to end public K-12.
Smurphy’s order literally covers all schools, public and private.
Smurphy wants everyone to be blue in the face.
How does he have authority over private and parochial school policy on this?
A lot of politicians need removed from power.
Yes—I have 4 kids; for the first 10 years they went to private school, as it got pricier we moved to a “better” school district and I tried public for the next 10 years.
Last year my last two teens withdrew from public school—the covid closures and general anti-student sentiment in public school the final straw—one teen went to private and the other switched to homeschooling. Both are MUCH better options in so many ways.
Does this only pertain to Public Schools?
One scintilla of proof that masks are effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus…just ONE!
NO....ALL schools, public AND PRIVATE.
When the heck will someone start arguing WHY this disease justifies this insanity?
The whole PREMISE that it is a horrific disease must be fought. Don’t simply fight about masks….make them demonstrate why it’s justified!
Welcome back to lockdown.
God help us from the generation of adults who were forced to wear masks as kids.
This isn’t a matter of legal authority, it’s a matter of self-anointed power. I would take my kid to the school without a mask and record and post a video of them being turned away every day until this vile governor is no longer allowed to abuse children ... no longer allowed to steal their childhood ... no longer allowed to LIE about masking.
Tar & feathering should be brought back into style.
Oh, they just double down on the same mask mandate as before that didn't stop the virus. "Hey, let's try that same failed policy again and see if we have any better luck the second time around."
Our just turned 4 year old toddler granddaughter wore a mask for part of last year. When we talked to her teacher about how she was doing, she told us most of the kids didn't keep the masks on for very long and were always misplacing them or losing them. And when they did manage to keep them on their face, they didn't wear them correctly. Just like adults, kids hate masks too.
When we asked what she did to kids who didn't keep the masks on, she replied, "Nothing." You can't get any teaching done when your whole day is spent chasing masks down. So instead of being a deterrent for the virus, it ended up being a big distraction to teaching the kids.
She starts the new school year next week. The lay county commissioners, who know nothing about the virus or medical or health situations, have just decided to.....you guessed it, that students must wear masks again this year.
Stupid is as stupid does.
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