Brick Schools' Mask-Optional Decision Draws Criticism

BRICK, NJ — Brick Township Schools have made masks optional again for the second week of the 2021-22 school year, angering some parents who want to see mask-wearing enforced because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In a notice distributed to the district's parents and staff and posted on the school district's website, school officials said masks will be optional for this week under an exception that is part of Gov. Phil Murphy's executive order mandating masks in school buildings.

"With the anticipated weather for this time of year, and due to the vast majority of our school buildings lacking AC and increased heat within our buildings, for the week of 9/13-9/17 (the last full week of Summer) masks are recommended and encouraged but shall remain optional," the notice said.

Murphy's Executive Order 251 allows districts to make masks optional in situations "such as when the individual is exposed to extreme heat indoors," according to the order.

While there have been heated debates in many areas with parents who oppose masks demanding they be optional, there have been parents who have been equally angry with Brick schools' administration since the start of school.

"So we start another week of school with masks being optional due to the 'heat wave,' " a person who only identified themselves as "J" wrote on Patch. The writer accused district superintendent Thomas Farrell of trying to appease parents who oppose masks at all by making them optional for the week.

"My child is not entering into a safe and healthy environment when going to school," the commenter said.

The temperature on Monday reached 85 degrees by 11 a.m., according to Accuweather.com. Some classrooms have reached temperatures of more than 95 degrees, district officials have said.

Of Brick Township's 12 schools, 10 do not have air conditioning.

The two high schools are partially air-conditioned, Farrell said, but the hallways at the two schools are not. In addition, the air conditioning is not working in one wing of Brick Memorial High School, he said.

"Some of our other school buildings have areas or spaces with window or split AC units, or just 'conditioned' air," Farrell said. "The bottom line is about 80 percent of our classrooms do not have AC."

None of the district's 54-passenger school buses have air-conditioning either, officials said, in response to criticisms that students are not wearing masks on buses.

The school district notice said students and staff will be required to wear masks when they are entering and exiting the district's buildings, "in an effort to start transitioning and in anticipation for cooler weather."

The notice included a reminder that the state has changed its guidance on quarantining students, saying students who are wearing masks or are vaccinated will not be considered "close contacts" if they are exposed to someone in school who tests positive for the virus.

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