{"id":18181,"date":"2021-05-21T01:56:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T05:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=18181"},"modified":"2021-05-21T01:56:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T05:56:30","slug":"mask-mandate-will-be-in-place-when-brick-students-resume-full-time-school-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2021\/05\/mask-mandate-will-be-in-place-when-brick-students-resume-full-time-school-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"Mask Mandate Will Be in Place When Brick Students Resume Full-Time School Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A student wears a face mask while in school. (Credit: Jill Carlson (jillcarlson.org)\/ Flickr)<\/p><\/div>\n

Brick public school students will return to full-time, in-person classes June 1, but New Jersey\u2019s controversial indoor mask mandate means they will have to continue to wear face coverings in many circumstances during what some parents are concerned could be the hottest weeks of the school year.<\/p>\n

New Jersey is one of two states \u2013 Hawaii is the second \u2013 that is maintaining an indoor mask mandate following guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that persons vaccinated for the coronavirus no longer need to wear face masks in indoor settings. Gov. Phil Murphy, however, has announced that an indoor mask mandate will remain in place in public settings, including schools. This week, the New Jersey Education Association \u2013 the state\u2019s largest and most powerful teachers\u2019 union \u2013 called for continuing the mask mandate<\/a> without specifying a preference as to when it should end.<\/p>\n

In Brick, the school district is planning to enter the fourth and final phase of its return-to-school protocol after the Memorial Day holiday break ends. Students in grades kindergarten through 12 will be able to return to a full-day, five-day per week schedule for the last two weeks of school.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrick Schools has been at the forefront during this pandemic leading local education back to a somewhat sense of normalcy, and it is because of our stellar staff and caring community,\u201d Superintendent Thomas Farrell wrote in a letter to the community last week.<\/p>\n

District officials, at a Board of Education meeting Thursday night, responded to concerns over students going an entire day wearing face coverings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to open up our community,\u201d said resident John Sluka. \u201cThis is settled science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students will not have to wear masks the entirety of the school day, Farrell said. But the indoor mask mandate will be strictly enforced when it has to be. Students will be able to pull down their mask to eat lunch, however if they get up from their seat to throw an item in the garbage can, change tables or use the bathroom, the mask must return.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a public school district we\u2019re required to follow the directions of the Department of Education and the governor\u2019s executive orders,\u201d Farrell said. \u201cBut there is a misconception that every second of the day, the students are wearing masks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell said students who have a documented medical condition will be excepted from the requirement. Students will also be able to remove masks while engaging in physical activities, such as gym classes, and when they are outside. Farrell said he is encouraging teachers to utilize outdoor spaces for learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they\u2019re inside, we do try to provide some respites,\u201d said Susan McNamara, Director of Planning, Research and Evaluation for the district. \u201cStudents are separated to the extent practicable, and they can have a morning snack, and of course they can take the masks down for lunch. If they need to get up from the table to empty their trays, we\u2019ll ask them to put their masks back on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell went on to say that students may not mind wearing masks, according to teachers who briefed the administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not phasing our young children, they do not even talk about it,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want to be by their friends and their teachers. They know they can ask the teacher or see the nurse if it\u2019s inhibiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell\u2019s stance is contrary to that of Central Regional school district Superintendent Triantafillos \u201cTom\u201d Parlapanides, who wrote a letter to Murphy this week asking him to end the mandate in schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll teachers that wanted to be vaccinated have been vaccinated so teachers are now safe in the classroom,\u201d Parlapanides wrote, urging Murphy to terminate the mandate so students \u201ccan breathe, and that at graduation, parents can see their children\u2019s smiling face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell said he agrees the social aspect of returning students to in-person, full-time learning is paramount, and hopes there will be no virtual option come September. But regardless of whether school officials are in support or opposition, the district will follow the governor\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve been encouraging is, when we come back full time, it really is about a celebration about returning to a sense or normalcy,\u201d Farrell said. \u201cWe are encouraging outside use of facilities in so many ways. When I was a teacher myself, I would take my class out to the stands and do a debate or a lesson. That has been our mantra and our encouragement because of the socialization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell said the district\u2019s phase four reopening plan is pending approval by the Ocean County executive superintendent of schools. Under the district\u2019s plan, all visitors and staff must wear masks while inside schools buildings regardless of vaccination status.<\/p>\n

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Brick public school students will return to full-time, in-person classes June 1, but New Jersey\u2019s controversial indoor mask mandate means they will have to continue to wear face coverings in many circumstances during what some parents are concerned could be the hottest weeks of the school year. New Jersey is one of two states \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[24,4410,4148],"class_list":["post-18181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brick-schools","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-mask-mandate","tag-school-reopening"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/50161078012_d298c2c615_k.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-4Jf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}