Sussex-Wantage to make masks optional

Sussex. The Sussex-Wantage Regional School District will make masks optional on Monday, March 7, when the New Jersey mask mandate for schools expires, Superintendent Michael Gall announced on Feb. 24.

The district will also begin full use of the cafeterias in all of its schools.

Gall said some aspects of contact tracing still need to be cleared up, since students who were masked properly during the mandate weren’t deemed a close contact.

“They’ve given us the opportunity to take the masks away, but they haven’t changed anything about close contact tracing,” Gall said.

He said he is working with the district’s risk managers, legal department, and boards to discuss the best way to navigate that.

He also said that, starting on March 7, the Clifton E. Lawrence school will resume using the cafeteria to eat.

Wantage School and Sussex Middle School had used the cafeteria the entire time during the Covid-19 pandemic, but with modifications that will be lifted on Monday.