Parents, Residents Respond To Summit Schools Going Mask Optional

SUMMIT, NJ — At last week's Board of Education meeting, many Summit parents and community members stood up at the podium to voice concerns over masks and COVID policies — even after the district announced it will be transitioning to "mask optional."

In line with Gov. Phil Murphy's announcement to lift the mask mandate for schools statewide, Superintendent Scott Hough informed the community on Wednesday that masks will not be required as of March 7 throughout the district.

At Thursday's Board of Education meeting, Hough reiterated his announcement and said the district is "very well-positioned" to convert to mask optional effective March 7.

Hough said the regional risk matrix of Summit's central east region was yellow, meaning a "moderate" risk for the first time since November. He added that Summit typically trends much better than the regional data.

Hough continued by saying that the district is awaiting updated guidance from the Department of Health about COVID protocols in the school setting.

"There has been a lot of discussion about the practice of contact tracing and quarantining asymptomatic, unvaccinated individuals in a school setting," Hough said. "Once we receive the updated guidance, we will collaborate with the Department of Health and other stakeholders to evaluate what is going to be the best practice for us at Summit Public Schools."

"As we have learned, we don't know what may be coming around the corner when it comes to COVID," Hough said.

Although many parents and residents said they appreciated the district's decision to go mask-optional, many expressed concerns about isolation and quarantine policies that could still potentially remain.

Lisa Devries of 153 Maple Street said she was concerned about the verbiage used in Hough's email around COVID protocols like isolation periods and contact tracing, arguing that they cause harm to children.

"It's not just the masking [that's a problem]," Devries said. "It's the isolation, the quarantining that are really hurting our children. Masking [and] social isolation have been proven to increase anxiety, depression and self-harm."

Dr. Mike Polisin, a pediatrician in Summit, also spoke about the mental health struggles that children have experienced during the pandemic and urged the board to avoid implementing strict COVID policies.

"I have written more prescriptions for psychotropic medicines — Zoloft, Xanax, Prozac — in the last two years than in my entire 37 years in clinic practice ... It's all due to lack of normalcy in their lives."

Catalina Kowal of 11 Oshea Lane expressed concern's over Hough's language, as well.

"The guidance you gave today sounds very conditional," Kowal said. "Like the minute somebody sneezes you're going to put a mask back on our kids, we're going to have more quarantine, we're going to have more isolation, and that is just unacceptable."

Kowal said the district needs to learn to live with COVID because it is "endemic." She further argued that the Summit Schools should go "mask optional with no return to a mandate ever."

Some schools in New Jersey have announced they will end contact tracing efforts. Summit has yet to announce if they will continue these efforts.

The full Board of Education meeting can be viewed below:

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