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Board to host Sept. 1 COVID forum after parents question mask, vaccine practices
Summary
Parents urged the Montgomery Township School District Board to allow mask choice and to clarify whether teachers are trained to ask students about vaccination status; the board said it will host a virtual forum Sept. 1 with health officials and investigate claims of teacher training and canvassing apps.
The Montgomery Township School District Board of Education scheduled a virtual COVID back-to-school forum for Sept. 1 after several parents said they were seeking clarity about mask mandates and whether teachers have been trained to solicit students’ vaccination status.
Superintendent McLaughlin told the board that students are scheduled to return for full in-person instruction on Sept. 9 and that state executive orders require mask wearing in school buildings and require staff to show proof of vaccination or be regularly tested.
“We are returning full in person, full day live instruction,” McLaughlin said, and added that the district will be prepared to provide quarantine education if needed. She described the Sept. 1 forum as a virtual meeting with Dr. Mendelbaum and Stephanie Carey of the Department of Health and said breakout rooms would cover elementary, middle and high school questions.
Multiple parents used the meeting’s public comment period to press the board on masking policies and alleged training. Jennifer Dressler, a parent, said she believes children are low risk and asked whether teachers were being trained by the NEA or NJEA to “engage students in personal conversations about their shot status” and to record those conversations.
“I still believe that our children are extremely low risk,” Dressler said. “I’m also here to inquire ... whether our teachers are currently receiving training from NEA or NJEA to engage students in personal conversations about their shot status, promote it to them, teach them how to access it on their own, and even more alarming is record these conversations in some sort of app that goes into a database.”
Gabriela Zayevan, another parent, said long-term masking harmed her younger child’s speech and asked the district to provide peer-reviewed studies proving long-term masking of children is safe before school opens.
Board members and staff responded that they had no knowledge of a district initiative to train teachers to solicit or record students’ vaccination status. Jim Dolan, president of the Montgomery Township Education Association, said he had not heard of such training and emphasized teachers’ focus on students’ privacy.
“We are here for kids. We are not here to identify vaccination status,” Dolan said, and offered to help investigate where the claim originated.
Board members referenced New Jersey executive orders and cited the state education code when explaining who is responsible for medical conversations with students. A member read aloud mask-exemption language consistent with N.J.A.C. 6A, saying exemptions include documented medical conditions and activities during which masks cannot be worn safely (for example, certain physical education activities or playing wind instruments).
The board said it would gather information about the specific training and apps parents mentioned (meeting participants referenced a training called “Me to Save” and a canvassing/documentation app called “Reach”), and that it would investigate whether any outside training or materials had been provided to staff. The board invited parents to submit specific allegations in writing and said it would consider issuing a policy statement if needed.
At the meeting the board approved routine minutes and action items. The board approved the July 13 executive and business meeting minutes and the August executive session and business meeting minutes; the July minutes included one abstention. The board also approved action items listed as items 2 through 4.2 by roll call; individual vote tallies were not specified in the public transcript.
District updates provided to the public included a Sept. 9 start date for in-person instruction; required back-to-school forms available in Genesis; a Sept. 1 virtual forum from 6 to 8 p.m. with health officials and breakout sessions by grade band; and plans to continue the Summer Seamless Option (SSO) free breakfast and lunch program in the fall. Facilities work mentioned during committee reports included replacing HEPA filters in music rooms and exploring a rain garden and water arrangement in Skillman Park.
The board encouraged parents with specific concerns or documents about training to send them in writing so the district and union can investigate and respond at the Sept. 1 forum or in follow-up communications.
