School Domestic Travel Policy Questions Among Topics At Long Valley School Board Meeting

LONG VALLEY, NJ — In introducing school district COVID-related policy documents up for their first readings at Washington Township Schools last Board of Education meeting this past Wednesday, the district’s interim superintendent presented information to the audience, with community members engaging in discussion afterward.

Those who approached the board of education addressed their concerns, critiques and experiences with the policies on masking, travel questions that have come their way and other topics related to the district’s handling of the COVID pandemic.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Laura Morana presented the audience with a review of where the pandemic took the Washington Township Schools; and how these policies up for adoption at an upcoming meeting in October have developed.

Morana’s plan reviewed the “Road Back - Restart and Recovery Plan” from July 2020 through June 2021, leading into “The Road Forward” with New Jersey Departments of Education and Health, from July 2021 through June 2022.

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In the Road Forward, she discussed Gov. Phil Murphy’s Executive Order 251 on masking requirements and 253 on vaccine requirements or regular COVID tests for staff, as well as documents published by the Department of Health and CDC on March 23 and Aug. 31, with recommendations for grades K-12.

She covered the impacts on students, families and the school district overall, for in-person learning, with policies and procedures put into place for transportation, cleaning, meals, health precautions, travel, the use of facilities and extra-curricular activities.

Between the Aug. 18 meeting and by Aug. 31, after parents had questions about various masking concerns and scenarios within the school district, Morana explained she provided weekly updates with answers to parent questions.

Policies within the district are adopted, she said, “in accordance with state and federal laws, including Executive Orders” and “must be in compliance with federal and state monitoring requirements.”

The Road Forward, from the state, Morana said, “offers recommendations rather than mandatory standards” for the state’s schools. Areas of focus in this plan includes: vaccinations, communications with local health departments, protocols for mask-wearing, information about social distancing, hand washing, respiratory etiquette, meals and transportation plans.

In focusing on mask-wearing for all students regardless of vaccination status, she covered the need for students to wear masks while on school buses, though they’re not required during “high-impact” gym activities, playing instruments, when eating and drinking or if they’re approved for a medical exemption.

In extreme heat conditions, per Murphy’s Executive Order 251, kids don’t need to be masked up; and her presentation stated that each school’s administration and staff would monitor building temperatures.

She told meeting attendees mask breaks depend on the school and other factors; and are not taken at the same time or simultaneously each day.

In terms of medical exemptions, she said there have been a small number of requests that have come in, which must be in writing from a student’s healthcare provider, submitted to the student’s principal. Families will communicate with medical and school personnel for the school, until a final determination is made for these requests.

Masks, according to her presentation, should be “tightly woven, such as cotton and cotton blends, breathable and in two or three fabric layers,” per CDC guidelines, she said. Valves or vents, or those that are loose, cannot be worn by students and staff during the day.

Though no situation has arisen, something that was asked at the August meeting, Morana reiterated in her presentation that students who aren’t wearing a mask will be offered one; and if they refuse, parents will be contacted.

“The partnership between the school and you is critical,” she told parents, “and right now, it’s so incredibly positive, in the way that our children are coming to school every single day.”

On vaccinations and Executive Order 253, Morana said nothing was added by the district; and staff members must either receive a full course of COVID vaccines or be regularly COVID tested approximately once or twice weekly. Morana said the district must have a policy on the books for staff vaccinations by Oct. 18.

Questions And Comments About The Documents For Approval

Robin Gibbon, a member of the audience, asked if staff and students, would be permitted religious exemptions for vaccines, stressing “it is in the law.”

Stephen Fogarty, the Board of Education’s attorney said that religious and medical exemptions are options; and staff would need to be tested regularly, “in accordance with Executive Order 253.”

Rob Waskis scrutinized the masking protocol within the school’s draft policy, stating that the only requirement is that students and staff are masked within the building.

He said he has heard of students since the start of the school year - and that his own daughter was pulled from class and sent to the nurse in April - because of their masks. He said when it happened to his child, he brought it to the board’s attention then, having learned that these students were taken out of class, he said, because of the weave of their masks or the way they fit.

He asked how the schools were evaluating “weave count” in the district; as well as the fit of masks, inquiring if they were using American Society for Testing and Materials standards.

“None of this is in your policy and quite frankly it shouldn’t be, that would be absurd,” Waskis said.

“Equally absurd is the fact that you continually allow your students to be pulled out of class, both embarrassing them and causing them to miss precious instructional time,” Waskis continued.

“If someone is inside the building wearing a mask, let them learn,” he said. “Let them teach. Let them perform whatever function it is they are there to perform; and let’s stop making high-handed, arbitrary decisions on face coverings.”

“You’ve been letting this happen for four months now, are you going to do anything about it?” Waskis asked with no reply from any of the board members.

David Book and Kelly Fleidner asked about their child’s issues with the school’s temperatures, stating he has been coming home in sweat-soaked clothes, but teachers - including in gym - have not been permitting removal of their masks. Fleidner said their son normally doesn’t complain of the heat, but not only were his gym clothes damp from sweat, but he was so sweaty after school that he needed to change again from the outfit he wore to school.

Morana assured them she would follow up on the situation. Fleidner said something needs to be addressed with the air conditioning, having moved into the district in 2010 with retired Superintendent Jeffrey Mohre having assured families that issues with air conditioning in the school district would be remedied, which she said hasn’t happened. Fleidner said that children would have difficulty focusing if they are overheating in class.

Several questions also arose about domestic travel guidelines for students and staff, with parents pointing out that as they stand now on paper with the district, per the Aug. 27 update, those who travel even for an overnight visit with family out-of-state, would be required to quarantine, without access to remote classrooms.

Morana said one of the adjustments made to the policy was removal of that paragraph relating to travel, only adding a set of recommendations that parents and caregivers monitor their child for illness.

However, parent Maureen Klein said in the past school year, she received a call from the school nurse, who learned the family had traveled out of state to Tennessee during a school break, after a teacher reported to the nurse that the family had left New Jersey.

“Who are you and the teachers to question students when they come in, where they were, what they were doing and if they were in guidelines?” Klein asked. “You’re leaving that up to the parents to do; and that’s what we should be doing.”

Klein said no teachers should be asking questions of the students about where they traveled to on their holidays.

“It is nobody’s business, as long as a parent is being responsible,” Klein said, with no response from the board. “I don’t ever want to get another nurse to call and ask me where my son was because quite frankly, it’s nobody’s business.”

With even more travel questions from parents, Morana said CDC guidelines do not require quarantine for domestic travel, though there are requirements for international travel. She said it is up to parents to make their own decisions about travel, without questions asked by the district if and where they have traveled to. Morana did say questions may arise if there are positive COVID cases, to determine the potential origin of a student or staff member’s case.

See Morana’s full walkthrough of the presentation in the video below, followed by the questions and comments from the audience.

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