Dear Parents/Guardians, Students and Staff Members:
On February 7th, Governor Murphy announced that the school mask mandate will no longer be in effect statewide as of March 7, 2022, meaning that local school districts can decide whether or not to require masks.
Since the pandemic began, we have followed the requirements of the Governor and the recommendations from the New Jersey Department of Health, the CDC and our local Hunterdon County Department of Health when making decisions related to health issues. With the Governor’s lifting of the school mask mandate, the sharp decline we have seen in COVID-19 cases within our schools, Hunterdon County and the region, as well as the high vaccination rate among our staff members, the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District will move to a mask-optional environment on Monday, March 7th. Students, staff and visitors are welcome to wear a mask if they choose. In addition, the federal requirement to wear masks on school buses has also been lifted, so wearing masks while riding the school bus is optional starting March 7th.
Exception to masks being optional:
- Per the NJ Department of Health recommendations that we continue to follow, if your student tests positive for COVID-19 or is a close contact to a positive case and returns to school after the required five-day isolation/quarantine period, masks are required to be worn on days 6-10 after symptom onset, positive test result or exposure to a positive case. Those students who are unable or unwilling to wear a mask should stay home for the full 10 days and not return to school until day 11.
We know there are some in our school community who would prefer to keep their masks on due to their specific needs and concerns. We are asking everyone to respect each other’s decision, whether they choose to wear a mask or not. In accordance with our district policy and Code of Conduct, bullying will not be tolerated.
Though we will move to a mask optional environment, the district will continue its other mitigation strategies to stop the spread of COVID-19, as the virus has not disappeared. We will continue with our enhanced cleaning and disinfection, increased ventilation with classroom windows open in the warmer weather, and socially distancing as much as space allows. In addition, we ask for your help in stopping the spread of COVID-19 by keeping your students home if they are sick and continuing to report any COVID-like symptoms and positive COVID-19 cases to the school nurses.
We will continue to monitor COVID-19 activity in our schools, the county and the region. It remains possible that the district may need to reinstate the mandatory mask requirement if the number of positive COVID-19 cases increases in our schools or Hunterdon County, if outbreaks occur in our school community, or if our region returns to High or Very High COVID-19 activity per the NJ Department of Health’s weekly COVID-19 Activity Level report.
As we receive further guidance from our local and state health departments, we will keep you informed.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Bender
Superintendent of Schools
North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District
