Ocean Gate School Urges Murphy To End In-School Mask Rule

OCEAN GATE, NJ — The Ocean Gate School District’s superintendent and board of education president sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday urging him to reevaluate the mask mandate for students and staff.

Superintendent Melanie Patterson and board president Richard J. Casey outlined several strategies in their letter that the district employed to offer a safe school environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As always, our district is operating in compliance with state mandates. However, we believe we are at a point when the state mandates regarding students and staff wearing masks at school, both indoors and outdoors, could be responsibly reevaluated.

"We hope to be able to continue to make informed decisions based on the needs of our local school community. Therefore, we are asking for your support to allow us to lead our Ocean Gate School community into this next phase," Patterson and Casey wrote.

The district’s Pandemic Response Team worked alongside district stakeholders, including Board of Education members, teachers, staff, and parents to utilize local data and address concerns related to the needs of Ocean Gate students and the community.

Students and staff returned to five day a week in-person instruction on Sept. 8, 2020. By April 19, 2021, the entire school district transitioned into a full day, five day a week in-person model with lunch being served in school.

“We created a COVID-19 safe school environment with the help of our families and the school community's stakeholders through proactive communication and multiple safeguards. We helped our teachers and staff members attain appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible while continuing to maintain a safe instructional environment for everyone,” said Patterson and Casey.

Last month, the Central Regional School District’s superintendent also wrote a letter to Murphy asking him to stop requiring masks in schools. Read more: Central Reg. Superintendent Wants Mask Mandate To End In Schools

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