As New Jersey students prepare to return to school this fall, a new poll finds most parents support a mask mandate for school-age children, but they are split on requiring vaccinations for kids.
The Monmouth University poll released Monday shows anxiety around the continued spread of COVID-19 may be on the rise after an optimistic spring, when case numbers plummeted. But most people still think New Jersey is handling the pandemic better than some other states, according to the survey.
The poll found 69% of parents — and 67% of all voters — support Gov. Phil Murphy’s mandate that children, teachers and staff wear masks in schools this fall.
Still, just 48% of voters surveyed said they thought schools should open fully in-person. That’s down from a May survey that found 56% of people thought schools should open for full in-person leaning.
Earlier this month, a crowd of about 100 people gathered outside of Murphy’s home to protest the mask mandate.
When asked if the state should mandate vaccines for eligible children 12 and older, respondents were split: 53% of voters said they would approve of such a mandate, but only 44% of parents feel the same. The numbers drop to 45% and 39%, respectively, when asked if schools should require younger children to be vaccinated upon regulatory approval.
Murphy on Monday to announced a vaccine mandate for teachers, and another one for all state workers, including those at public colleges. Public schools in the state already require children have several vaccines to attend, unless they meet certain medical or religious exemptions.
On overall masking and social distancing, the poll found 62% of voters support reinstating such guidelines, while 35% are opposed. That support splits along party lines, with 86% of Democrats seeing the guidelines favorably, 58% of independents and just 28% of Republicans.
“The vocal opposition to the state’s school mask mandate is a decidedly minority view. However, there may be greater pushback from parents if a vaccine mandate was instituted for school children,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.
“The delta variant has raised public concern, but New Jerseyans look at what is happening in places like Florida and Texas and feel we have things under better control here.”
Since May, the number of voters who agree with measures to control the virus’s spread has dropped from 58% to 45%. The number of people who think the state has not gone far enough has risen from 13% to 24% in that time, while another quarter say the state’s tactics have gone too far.
About six in 10 respondents said Murphy is handling the outbreak well, and 54% said President Joe Biden is doing well on the national level. Both of those ratings have dropped since May, when they were 65% approval of Murphy and Biden.
Monmouth conducted the poll Aug. 11-16 among 810 registered voters. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj.