Van Drew, Testa Weigh in on School Mask Mandate

TRENTON – With Gov. Phil Murphy’s announcement Feb. 7 that the statewide school mask mandate would be lifted Mar. 7, some questioned why wait.
In separate statements, Sen. Michael Testa (R-1) and U.S. Rep Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) agreed the school mask mandate should be ended today, not one month from now.
“While this is welcome news for students and their parents, I question the timing of the announcement by the governor. Why isn’t the school mask mandate ending today?” Testa asked in a statement. “The answer is simple; this decision is guided by political science. If this was truly guided by ‘the science,’ this arbitrary mandate would have been lifted 23 months ago, and the governor knows that.”
Testa also pointed out the governor flip-flopping on reopening restaurants Jul. 4, 2020 and questioned if the governor would go back on his word to lift the mask mandate.
Van Drew agreed there was no reason to put the move off a month.
“Our children have had to deal with virtual school and masks for the past two years, which has resulted in a strain on our children’s ability to learn and interact with one another,” Van Drew said in a statement. “This mandate being lifted is long overdue…. The handling of Covid in New Jersey has been awful. I urge the governor to lift all mask and vaccine mandates that continue to hold our state back from full recovery.”