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October 2, 2021
After a news report from several news stations this week, the Superintendent of Toms River Schools has stated that there is not a COVID-19 outbreak in our district.
Stephen Genco wrote a letter to staff, parents, and families addressing that the topic had been covered "inaccurately and misleadingly." "At any school or classroom, there are no plans to move to virtual learning," Genco noted.
Some have linked the high number of people in quarantine to a loose mask policy at the start of the year, but Genco has refuted that notion once again. He claims that due to the extreme heat, pupils were only allowed to go without masks for the first several days of the new school year, and then only in certain portions of the school buildings without air conditioning.
At this week's COVID briefing, Governor Phil Murphy and New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli discussed the quarantine numbers. Both stated that the state was investigating the matter.
According to the Asbury Park Press, Genco blamed the quarantines on kids who were free to participate in usual summer activities. "These kids came in from the summer with no masks, no restrictions....we were dealing with a sickness that was already there," Genco told the Press, referring to Toms River as a "village on the beach."
Despite Genco's insistence there is no "outbreak," those numbers certainly qualify under state and CDC guidelines. An "outbreak" is defined as cases where two or more unrelated students or school staff were infected in the classroom or in a school setting.
Genco expressed "frustration" over having to respond to media reports, and said he was "proud of the job we are doing" to safeguard the safety of students and staff in the district.
Superintendent Genco felt it necessary to reach out and assure the Toms River school community that, contrary to what you may have heard, there is no Covid-19 “outbreak” in our district.
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