School Mask Mandate: Maplewood Surveys Parents About Policy – Maplewood, NJ Patch

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — While the South Orange-Maplewood School District has not lifted its school mask mandate like many other districts around New Jersey did starting Monday, they are surveying the school community about the policy, and released a new message on Friday.

The district said that while they have changed some protocols, they still have to be aware of COVID cases, noting that there was a recent “outbreak” at one of the elementary schools.

The district recently began some changes, such as lifting outdoor mask mandates at school facilities as of Monday, and removing Plexiglas barriers in classrooms last week.

But will mask mandates be lifted indoors as well?

“We have of course heard from parents passionately advocating on both sides of this discussion, those urging SOMSD to make masks optional,” the district said in a message on Friday, “while others reached out to us expressing sincere concerns about what this could mean for vulnerable members of our schools and their families.”

Besides surveying parents, the district said Friday, they will also separately survey staff and students.

The district acknowledged that the state has released more specific guidance about how to handle masks and other mitigation measures, and said that vaccination rates are increasing among students and staff.

“Currently, the 5-11 aged-population is over 70 percent fully-vaccinated and our 12 -17 and 18 and over population is over 94 percent and 95p ercent fully-vaccinated,” the district said. “Please know that while our student and staff COVID infections have significantly decreased, we are still being impacted by cases (multiple cases this and last week and a recent outbreak at one of our elementary schools). For your protection and safety, we continue to strongly recommend getting vaccinated at this time.”

But cases have also risen. The SOMSD dashboard reported 16 new cases last week, as opposed to 5 each of the two previous weeks. In late December, the number was 45 in one week.

“While we understand that creating a 100% ‘COVID proof’ environment is not possible, we fully support our Departments of Health in their public health messages of disease prevention and continued reminders for everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated (and boosted)

A parent group, the “SOMA for Safe Return to School” group — which protested a year ago when Maplewood schools stayed remote into March — have asked the district to lift mask mandates and has advocated for other changes.

Two weeks ago, the district said that over 90 percent of teachers and staff are vaccinated, as are 75 percent of students age 5-11, and 90 percent of kids 12-18. Kids under 5 aren’t eligible for a vaccine yet.

What Will Change

District officials did say that masks will become optional for outdoor school activities like outside recess as of March 7. READ MORE: Maplewood Schools To Continue Mask Mandate Past March 7.

Some districts near Maplewood, such as Millburn,

went mask-optional, but nearby Newark will keep its mask mandate in place for now.

Maplewood officials initially said they’d reassess the situation over Spring Break, April 11-15.

Parents Note Recent Changes

The parent group said this week that there have been several changes since the district’s original message.

They noted that the state handed down a series of new recommendations on Feb. 22 for vaccinations, masks, and more.

Among them, the state said, “Circumstances in New Jersey have improved to the point where relaxation of universal masking rules in K-12 schools cangenerally occur. School administrators should be prepared for the emergence of new variants or substantial waning immunity that could once again lead to greater morbidity, mortality, and disruption….”

COVID Trends

In Maplewood there have been a total of 46 deaths of residents to the virus since the pandemic started. South Orange has lost 21 residents with the virus.

Children are less likely to get seriously ill with COVID than adults. However, the CDC has called children losing a parent to COVID a “hidden pandemic.”

And parents and children have experienced long COVID, as one North Jersey mom shared last year.

The state of New Jersey is urging parents to talk to their own pediatrician about the right safety measures for their child.

People can get information about Essex County testing, vaccines, and boosters here.

Cases have started to come down in North Jersey since spiking in late December and January after the holidays.

In America, more than 951,000 people have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The daily death rate is highest right now in these states.

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