Ridgewood Schools To Drop Mask Mandate On March 7

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Ridgewood Public Schools will drop a mask mandate and switch to a mask-optional policy on March 7, following Gov. Phil Murphy’s lifting of school mask mandates.

Ridgewood schools Superintendent Thomas A. Gorman announced in a Feb. 7 letter to the school community that the district will pivot to a mask-optional policy for all students, staff and visitors.

Gorman confirmed the policy change at Monday's Board of Education meeting, saying that the district's COVID-19 positivity levels were low. He said the district would continue to follow New Jersey Department of Health guidelines and would work with the village Department of Health to help guide its decisions.

No changes were planned to any other COVID-19 protocols, Gorman said. Ridgewood schools will continue to use filters, which filter the air in each of the classrooms every three hours. The district will also stick with current cleaning procedures.

Gorman said that the district was awaiting further guidelines from the governor regarding contact tracing. As of now, the district asked students and staff members who test positive for COVID-19 to complete a questionnaire to help in the reporting and contact-tracing process.

The district will also update its mask-optional protocols once it receives further guidelines from the Department of Health.