It’s been almost 3 years since Covid-19 has struck the nation, affecting many people in the process. On February 7, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey announced the decision to lift the mask mandate in NJ public schools. He stated that schools will be given the choice to follow the mandate or not.

The lift on this mandate will go into effect on March 7. New cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant are decreasing significantly all across the country, prompting Murphy and other bordering states to reconsider mask mandates and restore some sense of normalcy to their public schools.

“Thankfully, we have reached a point where we feel confident that we can take another step toward normalcy for our kids…we believe that we can responsibly end the universal mask mandate,” said Governor Murphy.

With the lifting of the mandate, ACIT will be giving students and staff the option to wear masks or not. Additionally, schools will not have the option to permanently ban masks. This will be a big change for students and staff as masks have been mandatory since September of 2020.

“I kind of have mixed feelings,” says junior Bailey DeLuca. “I am happy that we are making a big step towards normalcy again, but it is a scary change. Especially after wearing a mask for so long, it will take awhile to get used to.”

Currently, about 44% of ACIT students who took the survey say they do wear a mask out in public. Following this, roughly 43% say that once the mandate is lifted they will be wearing a mask inside of school, and 26% of the students are still undecided with their choice in wearing a mask.

Even though students are given the option to wear masks, they will still need to wear them on buses regardless if they don’t decide to wear them in school.

“Right now the CDC policy is different than what the state is asking us to do in March,” says ACIT Superintendent Dr. Guenther. “We don’t want to create any conflicts between you know, students on a bus, or with bus drivers, or other staff. So, we’re hoping all of that aligns at some point…or at least we get an opinion from the New Jersey Department of Health as to what they would like to see students do on the buses.”

These decisions made by the governor, schools, and parents will determine what this mandate lift will actually look like. Though some of this can be controversial, or maybe make others uncomfortable, the New Jersey Department of Health is taking actions so students won’t get bullied or harassed for continuing to wear a mask.

“It’s the person’s choice, it’s the parents’ choice, or the staff members’ choice,” says Dr. Guenther. “So we will continue to maintain an environment where there isn’t any type of harassment or intimidation whether someone chooses to [wear a mask] or not.”

Masks have been used the last few years to stop the contraction of Covid-19. Tracey Tully, the author of New York Times article N.J. Governor to End School Mask Mandate in Move to ‘Normalcy’ states, “Masks protect both the wearer from infection and those nearby from being infected.”

In the hope that cases remain low and that other variants to come remain less severe, ACIT staff and students look forward to more steps being taken that bring everyone back to some sense of normalcy.