Mask Options Clarified For Chatham Schools: Superintendent

CHATHAM, NJ — As the March 7 date draws closer for New Jersey to lift the COVID-19 mask mandate in public schools, School District of the Chathams Superintendent Michael LaSusa presented further guidelines to families about the district’s mask-optional environment.

Among them, LaSusa said in a letter on Thursday, masking will still be necessary on school buses and at the nurse’s office, in some cases.

The district does not plan to monitor students’ mask-wearing, he said. LaSusa also further outlined the expectations of a truly “mask optional” environment, where some students and staff may choose to stay masked, while others do not.

LaSusa explained in his letter that New Jersey’s Department of Education told the district masks will be necessary on school buses, but he plans to alert families if that changes. Parents will need to mask children if they use the district’s school buses heading to and from school or for activities.

“I am hopeful that this will change and that the rules for buses will soon align with the rules for school facilities but as of today, that is not the case,” LaSusa wrote.

He said students will need to wear masks when they are symptomatically ill and in the nurses’ offices. If a student is coughing and has similar symptoms like chills, they will need to mask up. If a student complaining of these symptoms does not have a mask when they head to see the nurse, the nurse will give them one, LaSusa said. If students go to the nurse for other issues, such as an injury at recess, a mask will not be needed, he said.

Students who are masked will need to handle masking on their own, with the school district “not responsible for monitoring children whose parents want them to wear a mask,” LaSusa added.

“We do not have the ability to continually check and police who should and who should not be in a mask based on parent preferences,” he said.

He said that families need to be aware that some students and staff plan to be unmasked, while others plan to stay masked up after March 7. Others may only mask up occasionally, he said.

“Whatever one chooses to do is all good and our schools will reinforce with students that ‘mask optional’ means that everyone can make their own choice without feeling self-conscious or worried about what others might think,” he said.

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