Long Valley School Board Still Looking To Meet With Governor Phil Murphy On Mask Topic

LONG VALLEY, NJ — At the first Board of Education meeting since the school year started, the Washington Township Schools' Board of Education provided an update on the status of the meeting most board members hope to have with Governor Phil Murphy on the topic of mandatory masking.

Board President Jessica DeCicco updated the public during the meeting that as a Board of Education, parents contacted them with questions about Murphy’s Executive Order 251, “which we are unable to answer,” with the proposed meeting with the governor an attempt to seek those answers.

DeCicco said the Washington Township Schools as a district has made contact with other school districts “looking to accomplish the same goals,” which is the ability for school districts and parents to have more leeway in making decisions about masking within their individual districts.

Should a meeting request be granted, DeCicco said those districts will also take part in the meeting.

“It’s the creation of an opportunity for him [Murphy] to hear and understand first-hand the challenges and situations that boards are facing with the mandate,” DeCicco told the public at Tuesday night’s meeting about their efforts to set up a meeting with Murphy on Executive Order 251.

On or around Sept. 1, the district requested that meeting with Murphy, DeCicco said; and she plans to follow up later this coming week for a status.

Parents will be sent a “quick survey” for their thoughts and questions on the topic of the mask mandate, DeCicco said, should the district be successful in securing a meeting date with Murphy.

Washington Township Schools had initially approached Murphy on the subject of the mask mandate in June, sending a letter requesting that Murphy reconsider Executive Order 175 dated March 9, 2020 - his initial order for masking from the start of the pandemic - for the 2021-2022 school year.

At the Board of Education meeting on Aug. 18, DeCicco announced that most board members were agreeable to do a deeper dive with the school board's attorney to explore ways that could - within the parameters of Murphy's Executive Order - potentially return more control to families and the district with the mask mandate. It was at this meeting that DeCicco said the district was seeking a sit-down with Murphy about the mandate, with Murphy not responsive to the letter the district had sent him in June.

RELATED: School Board Asks Governor To Unmask Long Valley Students

RELATED: Long Valley School Board Wants To Meet With Governor About Masks

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.