After Central Regional Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy asking him to rescind the order that all children wear masks in schools so that “students can breathe and that at graduation, parents can see their children’s smiling face,” the New Jersey Education Association  responded by forbidding “any risks or shortcuts” in NJ public schools.

Yesterday NJEA spokeman Steve Baker told the Star-Ledger, “NJEA continues to advocate for taking all necessary measures to protect the health and safety of all students and staff. Current medical guidance continues to recommend masking for all unvaccinated individuals, a group that includes the vast majority of the students in our public schools.”

While the Centers for Disease Control issued guidance last week saying that vaccinated people can largely forgo masks (except on mass transit, homeless shelters, and, prisons, and  hospitals) New Jersey still mandates indoor mask-wearing. New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware are following CDC guidance.

Parlapanides said in his letter to Gov. Murphy that fewer than 10% of documented COVID-19 cases in the United States have been between the ages of 5 and 17, and that infected children mostly report either no symptoms or mild illness. “All teachers that wanted to be vaccinated have been vaccinated so teachers are now safe in the classroom,” he wrote.