NJ to lift school bus mask mandate March 7, following CDC guidelines. Here’s what we know – Reverb MSN Music
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New Jersey’s K-12 school districts will need to decide by next week whether to keep the mask mandate in place for students while on school buses and other transportation vehicles, or make it optional.
Last month Gov. Phil Murphy announced the state’s school mask mandate would be lifted as of March 7. At that time, he said the decision to make masks optional or keep the mandate in place post-March 7, would be left to local school officials. The same now holds true for the school bus mask mandate.
This comes on the heels of the changes made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to no longer require masks on “buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs.”
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The CDC changed its guidance requiring masks on school buses on Feb 25, two weeks after Murphy lifted the school mask mandate. Prior to the CDC changing its guidelines, masks would have remained a requirement on buses to comply with an order from the federal government.
“We are pleased that the federal government has taken action that will align bus protocol with the mask requirement for New Jersey schools,” said Alyana Alfaro-Post, press secretary to the governor. “The mask requirement for schools will be lifted in New Jersey on March 7, as previously announced. School districts should continue to require masking on buses until March 7, when the state’s in-school mandate ends,” she said in a statement.
The state-issued guidance to schools on how to implement mask-optional policies last week. In addition to no longer requiring masks on school buses on Feb 25, the CDC also changed its recommendations that schools and child care centers enforce universal masking in areas where the community spread of the virus is low or medium.
COVID-19 Activity Level reports (CALI-scores) show that virus spread in New Jersey counties is yellow and green and in the low and medium range during the last calculated period that ended Feb 19.
In a clear departure from its position during two years of the pandemic, the CDC said last week that it “no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 schools and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level. School systems at their discretion may choose to require that people wear masks on buses or vans.
Most North Jersey school districts have announced they will make mask-wearing in schools optional. The following districts will keep the mandate in place either until further notice or for an extended time period: Paterson, Newark, Hillside, East Orange and Plainfield.
Republican Sen. Joe Pennacchio (D-26), representing parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties called for mask mandates to be lifted immediately in the state, in keeping with the CDC’s recommendations.
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“The CDC is no longer recommending that masks be worn anywhere in New Jersey under new guidance that takes into account local community data,” said Pennacchio “If Governor Murphy were truly basing his COVID-19 policies on science, he would follow the CDC’s recommendation and lift the mask mandate today for New Jersey schools and everywhere else.”
The Murphy administration has indicated that CDC guidance was a benchmark throughout the pandemic, and when issuing guidelines for schools through the state department of health. Murphy did not immediately lift the mask mandate during his announcement last month, because he said he wanted to give schools and child care centers time to consult with their local health departments and prepare their individual mask policies.
Mary Ann Koruth covers education for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news about New Jersey’s schools and how it affects your children, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: koruthm@northjersey.com
Twitter: @MaryAnnKoruth
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ to lift school bus mask mandate March 7, following CDC guidelines. Here’s what we know