TRENTON, NJ – If you’re hoping for a graduation ceremony for your graduating high school senior, you can forget about it, according to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. A new executive order issued today by Governor Murphy squashes the notion of hosting a graduation party, ceremony or gathering for the class of 2020. Governor Phil Murphy and Superintendent of the State Police Colonel Patrick Callahan today announced an Administrative Order clarifying that recreational and entertainment activities prohibited under Executive Order No. 107 (2020) are also prohibited from taking place within the brick-and-mortar premises of essential retail businesses that are permitted to remain open. That order took aim at graduation events across the state.
“Under the order, recreational and entertainment activities are also prohibited within the facilities of public, private, and parochial preschool programs, or elementary and secondary schools, including charter and renaissance schools that remain closed to students,” Murphy declared. “The Order will take effect immediately.”
You can read the order here:
WHEREAS, on April 7, 2020, through Executive Order No. 119 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, the Governor declared that the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency continued to exist and further declared that all Executive Orders and Administrative Orders adopted in whole or in part in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency remained in full force and effect; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 107 canceled gatherings of individuals, such as parties, celebrations, or other social events, unless otherwise authorized by Executive Order No. 107; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to paragraph 6 of Executive Order No. 107 (2020), the Governor ordered closed to the public the brick-and-mortar premises of all non-essential retail businesses but also deemed a subset of retail businesses as essential and permitted their brick-and-mortar premises to remain open; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to paragraph 9 of Executive Order No. 107 (2020), the Governor ordered closed to the public all recreational and entertainment businesses, including facilities where personal care services are performed that, by their very nature, result in noncompliance with social distancing guidelines; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to paragraphs 5, 6, and 9 of Executive Order No. 107 (2020), the Governor granted the State Director of Emergency Management, who is the Superintendent of the State Police, the discretion to make clarifications to any of those provisions, and to make additions, amendments, exceptions, and exclusions to the list of essential retail businesses and to the list of recreational and entertainment businesses;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Patrick J. Callahan, State Director of Emergency Management, hereby ORDER as follows: 1. Recreational and entertainment activities prohibited under paragraph 9 of Executive Order No. 107 (2020) are also prohibited from taking place within the brick-and-mortar premises of essential retail businesses that are permitted to remain open pursuant to paragraph 6 of Executive Order No. 107 (2020), or within the facilities of public, private, and parochial preschool programs, or elementary and secondary schools, including charter and renaissance schools, which are closed to students pursuant to paragraph 12 of Executive Order No. 107 (2020). 2. This ORDER shall take effect immediately and shall remain in effect for as long as Executive Order No. 107 (2020) remains in effect or until I issue a subsequent amending Administrative Order.