Masks Optional as of March 7

On February 7, 2022, Governor Murphy announced a date of March 7, 2022 for the end of Executive Order 251, which required school districts to maintain a policy regarding the mandatory use of face masks by staff, students, and visitors in the indoor portion of the school district premises. The Governor stated the removal  of the mandate is due to the significant decline in cases, transmission rates, and hospitalizations,  and an increase in vaccination rates, as well as predictive indicators of a downward trend for our state. 

With the expiration of this mandate, Manchester Township Public Schools will transition to a  “mask optional” approach for all students and staff as previously intended in the District’s June  2021 Road Forward Plan. This will take effect on Monday, March 7, 2022. 

Students and staff who return to school during days 6-10 of isolation or quarantine are required to mask.

Please be reminded that until the mandate is lifted on March 7th, our current school mask policy (below)  will remain unchanged.

Masks Optional on Busses

Masks will now be optional on school buses as the federal requirement has been lifted.

Quarantine Guidelines Effective Jan. 24, 2022

Persons who test positive or have symptoms

Persons who test positive for COVID-19 and have symptoms or persons with COVID-19 symptoms who weren’t tested or who are waiting for test results

• Regardless of your vaccination status, if you are symptomatic and have tested positive for COVID-19, then you must isolate for 5 days from the date your symptoms began.
• If your symptoms are resolving after 5 days, you can end isolation, but it is recommended you wear a mask around others for 5 additional days (you must wear a mask in school for the 5 days), avoid travel if possible, and avoid places where you can't wear a mask like a restaurant.  If you still have a fever or if your symptoms haven't improved, you should continue to isolate until your fever is gone for at least 24 hours and your other symptoms are improving.
• If you can't wear a mask, you should isolate for a full 10 days.

Persons who test positive for COVID-19 but have no symptoms 

• Regardless of your vaccination status, if you do not have symptoms and have tested positive for COVID-19 then you must isolate for 5 days from the day you took your test. You can end isolation after 5 days if you still have no symptoms, but you should continue to wear a mask around others for 5 additional days, avoid travel if possible, and avoid places where you can't wear a mask like a restaurant. If you can't wear a mask, you should isolate for a full 10 days.
• Note: If symptoms develop, you should immediately isolate for at least 5 days after the date when symptoms began.

Persons identified as a close contact

If you have NOT received all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses

• You should stay home and quarantine for 5 days, monitor for symptoms, and get tested at least 5 days after exposure.
• After ending quarantine, for 5 additional days, you should wear a mask around others, delay travel, avoid persons at high-risk for severe illness, and avoid places where you can't wear a mask.
• If you are unable to wear a mask when around others, you should continue to quarantine for a full 10 days.
• If symptoms occur, you should immediately isolate until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19. If you test positive for COVID-19, you should isolate for 5 days from the date of the positive test result.

If you have received all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses

• You do not need to quarantine. But you should wear a well-fitted mask around others for 10 days and get tested at least 5 days after the exposure (recently recovered persons do not need to test).
• If symptoms occur, or if you test positive, you should immediately isolate for at least 5 days after the date when symptoms began or the date of the positive test result.

This information is available at the following site:  

Isolation and Quarantine Calculator 

(Information from The Road Forward document)

Parents should not send students to school when sick. For school settings, NJDOH recommends that students with the following symptoms be promptly isolated from others and excluded from school:

• At least two of the following symptoms: fever (measure or subjective), chills, rigors (shivers), myalgia (muscle aches), headache, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, congestion, or runny nose; OR
• At least one of the following symptoms: cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, new olfactory disorder (loss of smell), or new taste disorder.

For students with chronic illness, only new symptoms or symptoms worse than baseline should be used to fulfill symptom-based exclusion criteria.

The Manchester Township School DIstrict will provide an opportunity for students who are  required to temporarily quarantine instruction to have direct access to the classroom instruction  through Google Meets.  There is also an opportunity for students to contact their teachers during the appropriate after school help at the high school and middle school.  During the school day, work will be posted on the class websites for students.

There are several exemptions that will prevent students from needing to be quarantined including wearing masks in the classroom. That is the reason that the Manchester Township strongly encourages students to wear their masks properly and maintain a safe social distance when necessary and appropriate.  

This plan will be evaluated on a continuous basis and revised if necessary.

Per the CDC, a close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of someone with suspected or known COVID-19 for 15 or more minutes during a 24-hour period. 

Exception: In the K–12 indoor classroom setting, the close contact definition excludes students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student (laboratory-confirmed or a clinically compatible illness) where both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time. This exception does not apply to teachers, staff, or other adults in the indoor classroom setting.  

Virtual days cannot be utilized in lieu of an emergency school closing for the 2021-2022 school year under normal circumstances and therefore will not be able to count towards the 180-day requirement.  The exception is if a district is required to close the schools of the district for more than three consecutive school days due to a declared state of emergency, declared public health emergency, or a directive and/or recommendation by the appropriate health agency or officer to institute a public health-related closure. 
 
Under this circumstance virtual or remote instruction that are commensurate with in-person instruction will count towards the district’s 180-day requirement.