Masks Will Be Optional In Middletown Schools This Fall

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — As of now, wearing masks will be optional for all Middletown public school students and teachers when they return to school this fall. Visitors to school buildings will also not be required a wear a mask.

This was a decision made by Middletown schools superintendent Mary Ellen Walker, who made it considering input from public school parents, whose opinions she solicited earlier this year.

At the most recent Board of Education meeting last Tuesday, June 22, Walker presented the board with the district's "Safe Return Plan" for the upcoming school year. Last Thursday, the plan was finalized and submitted to the state Department of Education.

"Our plan outlines our protocols that will be in place next year," said Walker on Tuesday of this week. "As stated in the plan, mask wearing for all students, staff and visitors will be optional unless required by law. At present, there is no legal mandate for mask wearing in school."

On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy made the ground-breaking announcement that there will be no state mandate requiring school students wear masks this fall, and he will leave it on a district-by-district basis to decide if kids have to wear masks.

New Jersey school districts have interpreted that very differently: Wyckoff, a wealthy North Jersey suburb, will not require masks in the fall. Newark public schools, however, already said they will still require students and teachers to wear them.

The Middletown BOE did not have to vote on the end to mask wearing.

Middletown had to submit this plan for how the upcoming school year will look as it hopes to obtain $4 million in COVID relief money from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion COVID bail-out package signed into law by President Biden in March.

The Middletown Township School District is eligible to get $4,038,839 in total; $2,692,560 is available now and an additional $1,356,270 becomes available in 2022-23. (Middletown will likely get that money, and right now, it remains unknown how the district will spend it.)

In their application plan submitted to get that federal money, Middletown at first said "All staff members and students will be required to wear face masks in accordance with the law."

However, Murphy's announcement Monday means there is no law in place requiring masks in New Jersey public schools.

Related: No Mask Mandate For NJ Students This Fall, Gov. Murphy Says (June 28)

Masks For Newark Public School Students, Staff Will Continue (June 29)

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