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Date: 9/1/2021
EASTHAMPTON – During its Aug. 24 meeting, the Easthampton School Committee unveiled updates to specific COVID-19 safety protocol that they approved during their last meeting on Aug. 10.
On that same day, Massachusetts Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley officially mandated masks for all Massachusetts public schools until Oct. 1. Bandanas and gaiters will not be permitted as masks in Easthampton.
Vaccinations will not be required at Easthampton Public Schools, but they are strongly encouraged for anyone who is 12 and up. Training will once again be conducted at each school on opening day for all educators. Students will take part in this training during the first week of school.
“That’s just to help people get navigated to our processes,” said Superintendent Allison LeClair. “It will be repetitive for students and staff that were in the buildings last year, but we have a lot of students returning that were maybe virtual last year.”
Breakfast and lunch will be free to students throughout the entire school year, and lunch trays will return after bags were used last year to facilitate food in the cafeteria. Students will be distanced with assigned seating, facing one side of the room during these periods. Outdoor dining will be available depending on weather, staffing and other factors, but indoor dining will be the norm. Tents will still be utilized for outdoor lunches, meetings or classes.
The district also plans to conduct routine COVID-19 safety checks for both staff and students. The BINAX rapid testing will be available for asymptomatic students. Transportation guidelines, meanwhile, stayed consistent with what Reminder Publishing reported from their last meeting.
Additionally, outdoor field trips will be permitted, and wearing masks will be encouraged but not mandated. Indoor field trips will not be happening until further notice, unless there is a unique circumstance.
“There’s no reason for us to be taking students on indoor field trips at this time,” said LeClair. “We’re going to wait 30 days and reassess all of this.”
As far as visitors go, the district is encouraging families to send emails or conduct meetings virtually with faculty and staff, if they can. Other people like mail carriers and contractors will be allowed in the building, and all visitors must be masked.
“We would not be inclined to make decisions without consultation from the city around what their recommendations might be,” said LeClair. The district consulted with the Health Department and Public Health Nurse before officially administering this protocol to the public.
After Oct. 1, individual public schools can lift their mask mandate if they have a vaccination rate of 80 percent between faculty and students. According to LeClair, the high school is close to that benchmark, but she does not think the city’s COVID-19 advisory group would be willing to lift the mask mandate immediately after Oct. 1 due to the existence of other factors, including the delta variant.
The committee also discussed the possibility of reestablishing the COVID-19 response team from last school year that helped facilitate recommendations and protocol for Easthampton Public Schools specifically with a School Committee member on board.
School Committee member Laurie Garcia, who was a part of the response team for the 2020 school year, argued that conflicting protocol from different organizations has led to past confusion, so she thinks that a response team should continue with at least one school committee member. Member Marissa Carrere, meanwhile, believes that this year is different in that the state and federal government have offered specific protocols that the district should follow.
“My concern with the delta variant is the number of children are getting it and ending up in the hospital,” said committee Chair Cynthia Kwiecinski. “I really wanted to think that our year would be better, and I still think it will be, but I think a few extra heads here and there to come up with recommendations isn’t going to hurt anything.”
Mayor Nicole LaChapelle agreed with Carrere’s sentiments, saying that the COVID-19 response team could always be recomposed if needed, but added that a tight knit group of city employees and staff should deal with future medical information, and report out when important information is found. School Committee member Marin Goldstein agreed that if the district had more leeway with decision making, then broadening the COVID-19 response team could be an option.
Besides the people from the Easthampton Health Department, LeClair also has a school physician from Northampton and other district registered nurses to help guide her through specific protocol and medical information.
The committee will look at the protocol monthly.