Mask Mandate Up To Each District: Summit Superintendent Responds

SUMMIT, NJ — After New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that there won't be a state mask mandate for schools in the fall, and each district will get to decide, superintendents around the state have responded. No Mask Mandate For NJ Students This Fall, Gov. Murphy Says

Summit Superintendent Scott Hough said he will be watching the trends. However, the district, like others, is waiting to see if there are changes later in summer.

“We are very encouraged by the recent announcement from the governor that masking by students while in school buildings will not be mandatory in the fall," Hough said Tuesday. "We are hopeful that trends will continue to move in a positive direction and we can provide as close to a normal school year as possible for our students.”

While coronavirus numbers are coming down in the Garden State — last week, New Jersey announced for the first time that there were no deaths reported in New Jersey hospitals since a day last July 2020 — children under 12 can't be vaccinated yet, there are concerns about variants of the virus, and more than 300 people are still hospitalized statewide battling it.

"Our committees are going to continue planning and release our policies later in the summer," a district spokesperson added. "We don’t have a final policy on it yet."

Summit was one of the first districts in the area to announce its school schedules last year, but also had to make changes several times and coronavirus deaths rose and fell, as did other districts.

Studies have shown that the vaccine is at least 95 percent effective against the virus, and among those who still get the virus, it will reduce the chance of hospitalization and death. The CDC said that people can consider themselves "fully vaccinated" two weeks after their final shot.

Some area districts have announced tentative plans, but haven't made a final decision about masks. In Cranford, their fall plans, released earlier this month, state, "The district will implement the masking guidance that is in effect at the time school is in session."

On Monday, the state reported one new report of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, 0 children hospitalized, and 128 cumulative cases since the start of the pandemic.

Current NJ Hospitalization Numbers

On Monday, the state reported four new coronavirus deaths confirmed since the day before, and 304 hospitalized battling the virus, 57 of those in ICU and 29 on ventilators.

A report last week said that 98 percent to 99 percent of recent covid deaths were unvaccinated people.

So far, 604,000 Americans have passed away due to the virus.

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