Hopatcong Schools Sends Letter To Governor On Fall Mask Mandates

HOPATCONG, NJ — Hopatcong School District’s Superintendent and Board of Education President asked Gov. Phil Murphy if school is safe enough to attend in-person, why students must mask up when they head back in the fall.

Superintendent Joseph S. Piccirillo and President of Hopatcong’s Board of Education Alex McLean sent a letter to Murphy on Monday suggesting that while the school district plans to follow his Executive Order on masking in public schools this fall, districts should be able to make their own decisions on masking.

Although Piccirillo and McLean acknowledged the rise in Delta variant COVID cases, they said Murphy had dissonance in his messaging with his Executive Order 251 mask mandate.

That order mandates masks must be worn at all times in school, except in cases of extreme heat, when children are participating in physical activities in well-ventilated places, if they are having difficulty breathing, while eating or drinking, when playing an instrument and in other instances.

They wrote that the mandate goes beyond CDC recommendations, after Murphy said that in-person school will be the only option, unless students are quarantined.

“This messaging seems to indicate that schools are safe as long as students mask up,” the two wrote in their letter, which Piccirillo posted on Twitter. “There is dissonance in this messaging, however, when the State of New Jersey itself does not have a mask mandate.”

We will be sending this letter to @GovMurphy by mail on Monday morning. #chiefbelief pic.twitter.com/NDbxLzHnft
— Dr. Joseph S. Piccirillo (@ChiefPiccirillo) August 13, 2021

Piccirillo and McLean suggested that while Murphy has had to make difficult decisions for the state during the pandemic, since they believe there are inconsistencies in his message for some communities, he should leave the decision-making to the local levels, such as School Boards.

“Our only position is that we - the community - know what is best for our students and staff and we - the community - would like the opportunity to make the decisions,” Piccirillo and McLean wrote.

Hopatcong Schools former Superintendent Art DiBenedetto - who retired and is now the Director of Research/Planning and Evaluation for the district - and Piccirillo, then the Assistant Superintendent, wrote a letter to Murphy in June asking him to lift the mask mandate in September.

RELATED: Hopatcong Schools Challenge NJ Mask Mandate For September

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