Make Masks Optional, Asks Manasquan BOE In Letter To Murphy

MANASQUAN, NJ – The Manasquan Board of Education recently sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, asking him to lift the recent mandate requiring all K-12 students to wear masks when they return to school in September.

In the letter posted on the district website, the Board of Education members ask that Murphy go back to the previous mandate, which made mask-wearing up to the local districts.

“We were disappointed on Aug. 6, when, at your press conference in East Brunswick, you announced you would be stripping us of that local control and replacing it with another statewide mandate requiring face coverings,” the letter said.

“This far-reaching mandate does not consider any of the circumstances or conditions present in the Manasquan School District and community. Making these decisions from Trenton for school districts across our state not only removes the home rule which made us so successful throughout this ordeal but also undermines the trust between local communities and boards of education.”

The letter also criticized Murphy’s tone toward those who disagree with his recent decision, saying that it has caused a divide in the community.

“Not only do we consider your new mandate unnecessary, overreaching, and counterproductive to the goal of returning students to school, the rhetoric that has surrounded the announcement has been divisive and irresponsible,” the letter said.

“You even went so far as to say publicly on Aug. 9 that anyone supporting an optional mask policy is ‘willing to sacrifice our kids for politics.' To suggest that months of careful and thoughtful planning by local boards of education is akin to ‘sacrificing our kids’ serves no productive purpose other than dividing our communities.”