Maskless Woman Forces School Board To Cancel Meeting In Cranford

CRANFORD, NJ — Cranford Public School District's Monday night Board of Education meeting was put to a halt after an audience member refused to wear a mask.

Under Gov. Murphy's Executive Order, anyone inside a school building must wear a mask. When a woman attending the Cranford meeting refused to put on a mask or leave the room, the Board voted unanimously to cancel the meeting.

About 12 minutes into the meeting, Cranford Board of Education attorney Jennifer Osborne reminded the public that masks are required to be worn in school buildings, as the district is still under Executive Order. Osborne invited anyone without mask to take one of the disposable ones provided at the meeting.

According to Tapinto, a Cranford Public School employee then walked around offering the box of disposable masks, but the unmasked individual — Gwenyth Murray-Nolan — refused to take one.

Osborne said the meeting was being live streamed and that anyone interested in watching could also attend virtually.

"We are not able to have anyone in attendance who is not wearing a mask, so we will have to ask you to leave the building if you are not willing to put one on," Osborne said.

Osborne then added that if the Board is unable to have full attendance wearing a mask, they would stop the meeting and contact the police department.

Board member William Hulse then made a motion to suspend the meeting, which was seconded by Brett Dreyer. The board unanimously voted to pause the meeting. Then, about 15 minutes later, the Board returned to the meeting and unanimously voted again to cancel the meeting.

The meeting ended around 8 p.m.

Murray-Nolan spoke with Tapinto after the meeting and said she has many documented health issues related to her respiratory system, including chronic asthma, an autoimmune disorder and chronic lung conditions. She also said she has a medical exemption from her doctors, but she has not put the paperwork in for the district's attending physician for a board meeting exemption.

However, Murray-Nolan said Superintendent Dr. Scott Rubin is aware of her medical issues. When asked why she wouldn't watch the meeting virtually, Murray-Nolan told Tapinto that the virtual experience doesn't get the point across or provide the same experience as in person.

Cranford Public Schools sent the following statement to Patch:

Unfortunately, the Cranford Board of Education had to abruptly end the January 24, 2022 meeting just a few minutes into the session after a member of the public refused to wear a mask in accordance with executive order 281, which reinstates executive orders 251 and 253. The Board is compelled to follow all laws, including executive orders. The Board is fully aware that not all individuals agree with this executive order and / or may qualify for a medical exception. For these reasons, the Board provides an opportunity to take part in Board meetings both in-person and virtually. The individual was informed that they could participate virtually and refused. They were also offered a mask on more than one occasion and refused. Rather than contacting the police, the Board chose to end the meeting so it could be in compliance with the executive order. It is extremely unfortunate that this occurred as the district had official business that needed to be acted upon for the good of the school community which also impacts the community at large. Moreover, the cessation of the meeting robbed residents of the opportunity to take part in the public proceedings and have their voices heard. Moving forward, we expect that all attendees will be respectful and compliant, allowing official business to take place and affording fellow residents the opportunity for their voices to be heard.

The meeting's agenda, which was posted on Jan. 20, referred to Murphy's mask mandate and reiterated that any sort of exemption must be applied for in writing to the Cranford Public School's attending physician.

See below to watch the first part of Monday night's meeting:

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