New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced the state will be dropping its school mask mandate beginning the first full week of March.
The announcement makes New Jersey among the first states under Democratic control to announce an end to school mask mandates amid nationwide pushback from parents seeking to have the mandates removed.
Murphy will formally announce the lifting of the mandate Monday afternoon, which comes weeks after several other governors in the Northeast mentioned ending their mask mandates in the coming weeks, the New York Times reported. The mandate will be lifted on March 7.
JUDGE TEMPORARILY BLOCKS YOUNGKIN ORDER AGAINST VIRGINIA SCHOOL MASK MANDATES
Mask mandates in schools, which were almost universally adopted when schools reopened to in-person instruction during the pandemic, have been the target of substantial ire from parent activists for months.
In Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order on his first day in office requiring schools to allow parents to opt their children out of mask mandates, sparking a legal battle with several school districts that refused to follow the order. A judge placed a temporary restraining order on the executive order on Friday.
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The implementation of mask mandates has largely fallen along party lines. Some Republican-controlled states, such as Florida and Texas, have outlawed school mask mandates for months, while New Jersey joins Pennsylvania as the only states controlled by Democrats that have lifted the mandates.
