MOUNTAINSIDE — The Mountainside Board of Education met briefly on Tuesday to discuss the upcoming changes to the district’s mask policy.

Governor Phil Murphy announced earlier this month that the state mask mandate would expire on Monday, March 7 due to a steady decline in Covid-19 transmission rates.

Superintendent of Schools Janet Walling, Ed.D. stated that the logistics of distancing within the schools had not yet been established, especially for lunch periods. She also noted that the nurses and the administrators are currently working on all of the details.

In addition, she noted that federal mandates require students to still wear masks whenever they are riding the bus. She stated that this included busing students to and from school, along with busing students to and from athletic events and class trips.

To conclude the conversation, Dr. Walling said that presently there were six active cases of Covid within the district and that included students and teachers. She added that this number has “decreased tremendously” since before the December break.

In other business, Interim Business Administrator, Steven Robinson, announced that there would be a delay in the district’s budget presentation because of the Governor’s delayed announcement regarding State Aid for the schools.

The board unanimously approved Gary Chan as the district’s Head Softball Coach, Zachary Worswick as the district’s Head Baseball Coach and Ramona Dunning as the Assistant Softball Coach.