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School responses in New Jersey to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

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Responses by state


As students returned to school for the 2021-2022 school year, states set a variety of policies on education and the COVID-19 pandemic, including how schools should open to in-person instruction and whether students and staff would be required to wear masks. By the end of the 2020-2021 school year, about 66% of students nationwide were in states that left closure decisions to schools or districts, 33% were in states with state-ordered in-person instruction, and 1% were in states with state-ordered regional school closures.[1][2] All 50 states closed schools to in-person instruction at some point during the 2019-2020 school year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This article summarizes responses to the coronavirus in New Jersey schools in the academic years ending in 2020, 2021, and 2022. You will find:


Ballotpedia’s coverage of COVID-19 includes how federal, state, and local governments are responding, and how those responses are influencing election rules and operations, political campaigns, the economy, schools, and more.

This page is updated monthly, but our email is always open. We encourage you to share updates from local officials, policymakers, and campaigns in your community at editor@ballotpedia.org.


Timeline by school year

Below is a list of major events involving schools in New Jersey during the coronavirus pandemic between 2019 and 2022, including school closings and openings, mask requirements, and the release of statewide operating guidance. Know of something we missed? Click here to email us and let us know.

2021-2022 school year

  • March 7, 2022: New Jersey's school mask requirement ended. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced the change on Feb. 7.[3]
  • Feb. 7, 2022: Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced the school mask requirement would end on March 7.[3]
  • Jan. 11, 2022: Gov. Phil Murphy (D) extended the state's school mask requirement for an additional 30 days.[4]
  • Sept. 9, 2021: At the beginning of the school year, Burbio, a school data aggregator, reported one in-person schooling disruption in New Jersey.[5][6]
  • Aug. 23, 2021: Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an executive order requiring all teachers and staff in pre-K through 12 schools to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or receive regular coronavirus testing.[7]
  • Aug. 6, 2021: Gov. Phil Murphy (D) issued an executive order requiring masks indoors in private and public schools, effective Aug. 9.[8]
  • May 17, 2021: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced all public schools would have to offer full-time in-person instruction during the 2021-2022 school year. He also said parents would not be able to choose an online option if their child attended public school.[9]


2020-2021 school year

  • June 29, 2021: At the end of the school year, Burbio reported a majority of schools were in-person in New Jersey .[10][11]
  • Sept. 10, 2020: At the beginning of the school year, Burbio reported most schools were using virtual or hybrid learning in New Jersey .[12][13]
  • August 12, 2020: Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an executive order allowing public and private K-12 schools, colleges, and universities to offer in-person instruction when they reopened. Schools would decide whether to offer remote learning, in-person instruction, or a hybrid approach. Schools that could not meet requirements set out by the New Jersey Department of Education would be required to begin the school year remotely.[14]
  • August 3, 2020: Murphy announced all students would be required to wear face coverings in schools, with exceptions for students with disabilities.[15]
  • July 24, 2020: New Jersey released guidance regarding a remote-only learning option for public school students. During the 2020-2021 school year, parents would be able to opt their children into a fully online learning schedule.[16]
  • June 26, 2020: The New Jersey Department of Education released a 104-page reopening plan that included social distancing guidelines and a face-covering requirement for teachers and staff. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said that schools would reopen to in-person instruction this fall.[17]


2019-2020 school year

  • May 4, 2020: Murphy announced that schools would remain closed to in-person instruction for the rest of the academic year. The order applied to public and private schools. Private schools had to remain closed until June 30.[18]
  • April 16, 2020: Murphy announced that schools would be closed until at least May 15. Prior to the announcement, schools had been under an indefinite closure since March 18.[19]
  • March 16, 2020: Murphy ordered all schools in the state to close, effective March 18.[20]

Mask and vaccine requirements in the 2021-2022 school year

Mask requirements in schools

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

As of August 1, 2022, no states had school mask requirements in effect. Forty-two states left mask requirements in schools up to local authorities. Seven states banned school mask requirements.

The table below shows statewide school mask requirement laws and orders in states with school mask requirements or school mask requirement bans in place at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

Mask requirement orders
State Ban or requirement? Type of order Date lifted or altered
Arizona Ban Legislative action N/A
Arkansas Ban Legislative action Sept. 30, 2021 - Suspended by court action
California Requirement California Department of Public Health order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Connecticut Requirement Executive order Feb. 28, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Delaware Requirement Executive order March 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Florida Ban Executive order N/A[21]
Georgia Ban Legislative action N/A
Hawaii Requirement Executive order Aug. 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Illinois Requirement Illinois Department of Public Health order Feb. 4, 2022 - Suspended by court action[22]
Iowa Ban Legislative action May 16, 2022 - Reinstated by court action[23]
Kentucky Requirement Kentucky Board of Education order Sept. 9, 2021 - Suspended by state law
Louisiana Requirement Executive order Feb. 16, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[24]
Maryland Requirement Maryland State Board of Education order March 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[25]
Massachusetts Requirement Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education order Feb. 28, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[26]
Nevada Requirement Executive order Feb. 10, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New Jersey Requirement Executive order March 7, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New Mexico Requirement New Mexico Public Education Department order Feb. 17, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New York Requirement Executive order March 3, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Oklahoma Ban Executive order N/A
Oregon Requirement Oregon Health Authority and Department of Education order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Pennsylvania Requirement Pennsylvania Department of Health order Dec. 10, 2021 - Suspended by court action
Rhode Island Requirement Executive order March 4, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
South Carolina Ban Legislative action Sept. 28, 2021 - Temporarily suspended by court action
Tennessee Ban Executive order Dec. 10, 2021 - Suspended by court action
Texas Ban Executive order N/A[27]
Utah Ban Legislative action N/A
Virginia Ban Legislative action N/A
Washington Requirement Washington State Department of Public Health order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action

School mask requirements over time

School mask bans over time


Teacher and school employee vaccine requirements

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

Seven states had issued a statewide requirement for K-12 teachers and staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or receive regular coronavirus testing during the 2021-2022 school year. The table below shows teacher and staff vaccine requirement laws and orders in states that issued such policies during the 2021-2022 school year.

Vaccine requirement orders
State Testing instead of vaccination allowed? Type of order Date effective
California Yes California Department of Public Health order Oct. 15, 2021
Connecticut No Executive order Sept. 27, 2021
Delaware Yes Executive order Nov. 1, 2021
Illinois Yes Executive order Issued: Sept. 19, 2021
Suspended by court action on Feb. 4, 2022
New Jersey Yes Executive order Oct. 18, 2021
New York Yes Executive order Sept. 19, 2021
Oregon No Executive order Oct. 18, 2021
Washington No Executive order Oct. 18, 2021


Student vaccine requirements

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

On Oct. 1, 2021, California was the first state to announce a vaccine requirement for eligible students. Louisiana also announced a vaccine requirement for eligible students on Dec. 14, but then announced the state would be removing the coronavirus vaccine from the list of required immunizations in schools on May 18, 2022.

School reopenings and closures (2020-2021 academic year)

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2020-2021 academic year

Initial school year operating plan

See also: Documenting America's Path to Recovery: August 11, 2020

New Jersey released an initial operating plan for the 2020-2021 school year on June 26, 2020. An analysis of this plan appeared in our Documenting America's Path to Recovery newsletter on August 11. The sections below include an analysis of the plan, the details of the plan, and reactions from officials to the plan.

On June 26, Governor Phil Murphy and Department of Education Commissioner Lamont O. Repollet released The Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education, the state’s guidelines for reopening public schools for in-person instruction in the fall.

Commissioner Repollet said, “New Jersey educators and families did an amazing job over the past three months implementing remote learning, even with relatively little time for planning. That effort was nothing short of heroic. However, too many parents feel that remote-only instruction isn’t working for their child, and too many children are falling behind. It is becoming abundantly clear that children need to return to a school environment in some capacity, and we need to do so safely. This is a matter of educational growth, and it’s a matter of equity.”

In July, Murphy issued additional guidelines, clarifying that each district was required to offer remote-only options for instruction and that each district would be responsible for designing and implementing its plan for remote learning.

Several teachers’ unions in the state, including those in Paterson and Essex County, have called for public school openings to be delayed for in-person instruction. The New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association has also called for statewide remote instruction to start the school year.

There is no statewide date for schools to begin instruction in New Jersey; each district sets its own specific start date. According to Ed Week, public schools in New Jersey typically start the academic year in late August to early September, with specific dates varying by district. Schools in New Jersey were closed for in-person instruction on March 18, 2020, and remained closed for the remainder of the year.

Context

New Jersey is a Democratic trifecta. The governor is a Democrat, and Democrats have majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state became a Democratic trifecta in 2018.

The following tables show public education statistics in New Jersey, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

New Jersey school metrics
Category Figure Rank
Per pupil spending (16-17) $21,156 3
Number of students (18-19) 1,365,642 11
Number of teachers (Fall 2016) 115,729 7
Number of public schools (18-19) 2,573 10
Student:teacher ratio (18-19) 12.1 47
Percent qualifying for free/reduced lunch (16-17) 37.9% 43


New Jersey school revenue
Category Figure Rank
Total revenue $28,489,659,000 5
Federal revenue percent 4.2% 49
State revenue percent 42.1% 35
Local revenue percent 53.7% 11

Details

District reopening plans
Districts are required to develop and submit their own specific plans that meet or exceed the state’s reopening guidelines. Districts are encouraged to share their reopening plans with the public at least four weeks before the beginning of the school year.

In-person, hybrid, and online learning
New Jersey’s reopening guidelines specify that districts must account for resuming in-person instruction in their reopening plans. The guidance Murphy issued in July specified that each district should also offer students an option for fully remote instruction. Each district determines its schedules. The state’s reopening guidelines offer some models for in-person, hybrid, and online learning.

Systems which support in-person, fully virtual and hybrid learning should serve as the foundation for the development of a strategic plan for delivering instruction to students in alignment with the following core guiding principles:

  • Lead with the health, safety, and wellness of students and staff as the top priority.
  • Maintain the continuity of learning.
  • Facilitate equity and ease of access to communications and resources.
  • Flexibly accommodate the needs and varying circumstances of all learners.
  • Incorporate educators, students, parents, and school boards and other community members in the local community into entire analysis and planning cycle.

Mask requirements
Educators, staff members, and visitors will be required to wear a mask or face covering throughout the day unless they are unable due to a health reason. Students are required to wear a face covering when they cannot maintain six feet of distance and are encouraged to wear masks throughout the day.

In-person health recommendations and requirements
Schools are expected to offer the maximum amount of social distance possible, with the recommendation that students are placed at least six feet apart in classrooms. Where this is not possible, the guidelines recommend physical barriers. Each district is also required to adopt a disinfecting policy, place directional markers in high-traffic areas, and adopt a policy for screening students and employees for symptoms and exposure history.

School districts must adopt a policy for screening students and employees upon arrival for symptoms and history of exposure. Policies must include the following:

  • Staff must visually check students for symptoms upon arrival (which may include temperature checks) and/or confirm with families that students are free of COVID-19 symptoms.
  • Health checks must be conducted safely and respectfully, and in accordance with any applicable privacy laws and regulations.
  • Results must be documented when signs/symptoms of COVID-19 are observed.
  • Any screening policy must take into account students with disabilities and accommodations that may be needed in the screening process for those students.

Districts are also required to develop protocols for positive tests or contact with those who have tested positive for COVID-19. These protocols must include isolation of the individual, notification of local health officials, and contact tracing.

Students can still eat lunch in the cafeteria, but social distancing is still expected and lunch times should be staggered to allow for minimal student contact. Recess and gym are also permitted with size limits. Indoor school sports are not permitted, but outdoor school sports are allowed.

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions
School buses are recommended to maintain a six-foot social distance between students. If six feet of social distance is not possible on transportation, students are required to wear face coverings. The guidelines also recommend having students fill in the back rows of the bus first and progress forward. Students exit the bus in the opposite fashion to limit physical interaction among students.

Bus drivers are required to wear face coverings and follow sanitizing protocols in line with other staff members.

Responses

In July, The Essex County Education Association, which represents 12,000 teachers in one of the largest districts in the state, called for schools to open with fully remote instruction. The group’s president, Anthony Rosamilia said:

“ Simply put, despite the best of intentions and planning, the risk to the health and safety of our students and staff is too high. … Districts are wasting precious weeks creating plans with convoluted schedules and Plexiglas dividers that are plainly unworkable. Staffing these plans will prove to be impossible. Ultimately, once cases of COVID start showing up — and they will — these plans fall apart like a house of cards. Where do districts, families and students end up in that case? Right back in remote learning anyway, but without the benefit of planning and preparation because we were too busy figuring out who is going to be taking temperatures and sanitizing every surface each day.[28] ”

The Garden State Coalition of Schools, a nonpartisan education advocacy group, applauded the state’s reopening guidelines, saying:

“ The plan correctly provides flexibility to school districts that allow school communities to meet the unique challenges presented for each community. We are a network of individual hubs all bound with a shared goal of educating New Jersey’s children. Yet, each hub has unique nuances that render individualization mandatory. Our school systems each have unique challenges, and have vast differences in facilities, budgets, curricular programs, grade level configuration, transportation, size, location, technological needs, etc.[28] ”

Map of school closures

The map below shows the status of school reopenings and closures at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year.

As of July 8, 2021, the status of school closures and reopenings was as follows:

  • Two states (Delaware, Hawaii) and Washington, D.C. had state-ordered regional school closures, required closures for certain grade levels, or allowed hybrid instruction only.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 410,896 students (0.81% of students nationwide)
  • Thirteen states had state-ordered in-person instruction.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 15,697,460 students (30.96% of students nationwide)
  • One state (Arizona) had state-ordered in-person instruction for certain grades.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 1,152,586 students (2.27% of students nationwide)
  • Thirty-four states left decisions to schools or districts.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 33,449,499 students (65.96% of students nationwide)



School reopenings and closures (2019-2020 academic year)

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2019-2020 academic year


The map below shows the status of school reopenings and closures at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year.

  • States closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year: 48
  • Number of public school students in states closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year: 50,261,464


The chart below shows the first date schools in a state were closed to in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 academic year, divided by the political party of the governor.

School responses by state

To read about school responses to the coronavirus pandemic in other states, click one of the following links below:

General resources

The chart below shows coronavirus statistics from countries across the world. The information is provided by Real Clear Politics.

Click the links below to explore official resources related to the coronavirus outbreak.


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Number of operating public schools and districts, student membership, teachers, and pupil/teacher ratio, by state or jurisdiction: School year 2019–20," accessed September 10, 2021
  2. ↑ EducationWeek, "Map: Where Were Schools Required to Be Open for the 2020-21 School Year?," June 14, 2021
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 YouTube, "Governor Murphy Holds COVID-19 Briefing," February 7, 2022
  4. ↑ News 12 New Jersey, "Gov. Murphy issues new public health emergency. Here are the powers it grants.," January 12, 2022
  5. ↑ To read more about Burbio's school disruption tracking, click here
  6. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed August 27, 2021
  7. ↑ New Jersey Office of the Governor, "Governor Murphy Signs Executive Order Instituting Vaccination or Testing Requirement for All Preschool to Grade 12 Personnel," August 23, 2021
  8. ↑ New Jersey Office of the Governor, "Governor Murphy Announces Indoor Mask Requirement for Beginning of 2021-2022 School Year," August 6, 2021
  9. ↑ New Jersey Office of the Governor, "Governor Murphy Announces That Schools Will Be Required to Provide Full-Time, In-Person Instruction Beginning Fall 2021," accessed May 18, 2021
  10. ↑ Burbio rated New Jersey's in-person index at 78.8. To read more about Burbio's school opening tracker, click here. To read more about Burbio's methodology, click here.
  11. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed Oct. 8, 2021
  12. ↑ Burbio rated New Jersey's in-person index between 0-20. To read more about Burbio's school opening tracker, click here. To read more about Burbio's methodology, click here.
  13. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed Oct. 8, 2021
  14. ↑ Reuters, "New Jersey schools, colleges can reopen for in-person education: governor," August 12, 2020
  15. ↑ Politico, "New Jersey will require all students to wear masks while in school," August 3, 2020
  16. ↑ State of New Jersey, "The Road Back," accessed July 24, 2020
  17. ↑ northjersey.com, "NJ schools reopening in fall with students back in classrooms. Here are the guidelines," June 26, 2020
  18. ↑ 10 Philadelphia, "WATCH: NJ Schools to Remain Closed to In-Person Learning; Gov. Murphy Speaks Coronavirus," May 4, 2020
  19. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Gov. Murphy orders N.J. schools closed until May 15 to slow coronavirus spread," April 16, 2020
  20. ↑ CBS Philadelphia, "Coronavirus In New Jersey: Gov. Murphy Closing All Schools, Casinos, Restaurants As COVID-19 Cases Jump To 178," March 16, 2020
  21. ↑ On Sept. 2, 2021 the ban was temporarily suspended by court action. An appeals court upheld the ban on Sept. 10.
  22. ↑ Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) ended the statewide school mask requirement on Feb. 28, 2022.
  23. ↑ On Sept. 13, 2021 the ban was temporarily suspended by court action for all schools. On Jan. 25, 2022, the ban was partially reinstated.
  24. ↑ Oct. 26, 2021 - School districts could be exempt from the school mask requirement if they followed CDC quarantine guidance
  25. ↑ Dec. 7, 2021 - School districts could be exempt from the school mask requirement if they met one of the three following criteria: 1) the county vaccination rate was 80% or higher, 2) 80% of school staff and students were vaccinated, or 3) COVID-19 transmission in the county was considered moderate or low for 14 straight days.
  26. ↑ Oct. 1 - Schools could become exempt from the school mask requirement when at least 80% of students were vaccinated
  27. ↑ On Nov. 10, 2021 the ban was suspended by court action. An appeals court upheld the ban on Dec. 1.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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