N.J. school mask rules now up to local districts. ‘Use your responsibility wisely,’ Murphy says – NJ.com

New Jersey school districts can make their own decisions locally on whether students and staff need to wear masks, particularly during extreme heat or because of other health reasons, Gov. Phil Murphy clarified Wednesday.

With a heat wave gripping the state in recent days, Murphy announced Monday that schools could make masks optional if temperatures cause concerns.

The shift caught many educators off guard, and multiple districts announced that they would make masks optional while students are seated in classrooms for the remainder of the school year, regardless of the weather.

When asked at his COVID-19 briefing if that was what he intended, Murphy deferred to local district decision-makers — though he stressed they shouldn’t ditch masks completely. Most districts are in the final weeks of classes.

“I think we’re gonna leave it to the judgment of the district, but what we’re not saying is you can take your mask off forever and always,” Murphy said during his latest COVID-19 briefing in Trenton. “We are saying that if it’s a particular health reason — and extreme heat is one of them — that would cause a health risk for kids or educators or staff, they have the right to make that decision locally.”

He did not specify other health reasons and stressed that it shouldn’t be a political issue.

“Use your responsibility wisely,” the governor advised district leaders. “Do the right thing.”

Murphy last month ended New Jersey’s mask mandate in most cases as vaccinations continue to increase and coronavirus cases continue to plummet.

But in accordance with federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, masks are still required both indoors and outdoors at schools and daycare centers, on public transit, in healthcare settings, and in state buildings.

On Monday, Murphy said students could remove their masks in school during heatwaves. Specifically, he said “current masking requirements do include exceptions for cases of extreme heat in outdoor settings and for situations indoors or outdoors where wearing a mask would inhibit the individual’s health” and that “school officials are empowered to relax masking among students and staff in their buildings, given extreme weather conditions.”

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Some of the new mask-optional school policies still require students and staffed to be masked in common areas like hallways. But some have dropped mask policies for busses, as well.

In Englishtown, one school official was put on leave after refusing to waive the school mask requirement in his district.

Some parents and Republicans have also bashed Murphy, a Democrat running for re-election this year, for keeping kids in masks at schools and daycare, especially when they don’t have to wear masks at other public places.

The governor has said masks continue to be required in schools because kids under 12 can’t be vaccinated yet.

“All of us want to get to the place sooner or later where our kids aren’t wearing masks,” Murphy said Wednesday. “There’s no underlying reason we want that to continue. … We continue to make these decisions based on CDC guidance.”

Murphy last week told reporters he is open to the possibility that masks might not be required in New Jersey in September, when the 2021-22 school year begins. He previously said parents should plan to continue sending their children to school in face coverings in September.

The governor also announced Monday that no children or staff members at New Jersey summer camps will be required to wear masks outdoors as the state updates rules to meet CDC guidance. Fully vaccinated campers and staffers also won’t be mandated to wear masks indoors, while unvaccinated campers will be only “strongly encouraged” to wear them inside. Unvaccinated staffers will still be required to wear masks with “only limited exception,” he said.

Officials were asked Wednesday to explain the science of why masks are needed for kids in outdoor settings.

Dr. Edward Lifshitz, director of the state Department of Health Communicable Disease Service, noted that “outside is safer than inside” when it comes to the pandemic. But, he added, if you’re outdoors with a group of people, it’s “totally different” than if there’s a lot of open space.

“It’s harder to make that very hard distinction between indoors and outdoors,” Lifshitz said. “We know that masks in general help protect.”

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.