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Date: 9/1/2021
WESTHAMPTON – During its Aug. 23 meeting, the Hampshire Regional School Committee voted in favor of a policy that requires all students, faculty, and staff to wear masks inside Hampshire Regional High School, regardless of vaccination status.
The following day, the Massachusetts Education Board granted authority to Jeffrey Riley, the state’s commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, full authority to implement a mandate for masks. Riley then mandated masks for all K-12 students, faculty and staff until Oct. 1. This mandate would not include students who have medical conditions or behavioral needs.
The mandate will only be lifted for vaccinated students and staff On Oct. 1 for schools that have a vaccination rate of at least 80 percent between students and faculty. Unvaccinated students and staff would still be required to wear masks after the mandate is lifted.
Hampshire Regional High School Principal Lauren Hotz and Hampshire Regional District Superintendent Dianna Bonneville developed their policy around masks prior to this statewide decision from Riley.
According to Margaret Larson, the chair of the Hampshire Regional High School Committee, regardless of what the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) changes regarding protocol, the high school’s policy to start the year will involve 100 percent masking.
Since DESE mandated that all students wear masks on buses, regardless of vaccination status, the committee decided to maintain that mandate without any changes. “That wasn’t anything that we had to develop; it is part of the return to school plan, because it was already done for us,” said Larson.
Without any guidelines specifying that six feet of distance must be maintained, Larson added that a three-foot guideline would be more optimal. “While we can’t exactly meet a particular number in all of our classrooms, depending on the number of students we have in there, our desks are spaced far enough for students,” said Larson. “Wherever possible, we’re trying to get to that two to three feet distance.”
The committee was more concerned about protocol for when students would not be wearing masks during the day. In the lunchroom for example, there will be seating for students in every other seat to maintain proper spacing since they will not be wearing masks while eating and drinking.
“We’re using QR codes to have students check in for contact tracing,” said Larson, regarding lunches. The students will find the code in the physical lunchroom and check in with information about where they are specifically sitting. According to Larson, some students will elect to sit in the auditorium or outdoors to space as much as possible.
As of press time, the committee is still waiting on any additional DESE guidance regarding physical education and music classes, but Larson said that students will not have to wear masks during outdoor classes physical education classes, and they anticipate that students will have to wear them during indoor physical education classes.
Band classes, meanwhile, will be conducted outside. If classes must move indoors due to inclement weather, then students will have to wear masks. Students in chorus will have to wear masks while they sing indoors.
Based on the feedback from other school committees, specifically the William E. Norris Committee and Westhampton Elementary Committee, the Hampshire Regional High School Committee will not include language in the protocol that gives faculty and staff the option to not wear masks during Professional Development days. All three of these committees agreed to strike this language completely. The safety committee that read these protocols also recommended taking the language out entirely.
The Hampshire Regional High School committee did agree that teachers and staff would not have to wear masks while they are completely alone in their classrooms.
Scott Johndrow, a Westhampton member of the Hampshire Regional High School Committee, was the only member who voted no to the masking protocol, mainly because he wanted to see how the additional DESE guidelines would play out. Riley’s mask mandate was implemented after the school committee meeting occurred.
“I actually agree with [a] 100 percent masking policy,” said Larson. “My opinion on the matter has evolved over the summer as we’ve seen more cases in other places. I feel like it’s the prudent decision for the first month or two, and we will be examining the policy every single meeting as we proceed through the year.”
Larson said that she does not think the high school will reach an overall vaccination rate of 80 percent in less than a month. Reminder Publishing spoke with her before Riley officially announced the mask mandate.
“I appreciate our School Committee for having these robust discussions,” said Larson. “We’re just going to continue to talk about [the protocol].”
As of press time, around 80 percent of teachers at Hampshire Regional High School are fully vaccinated, while roughly 50 percent of students in the school are fully vaccinated. “Our rates were higher at the end of last year, but that’s because our seniors were very motivated to get their vaccinations, because there were a couple of activities planned that required vaccinations,” said Larson.
With the Federal Drug Administration fully approving Pfizer vaccines for ages 16 and up, Larson anticipates that the rates will rise, but it could take a little while since the class of seventh graders coming in is quite large.
The next Hampshire Regional School Committee meeting will occur on Sept. 7 over Zoom. The first day of school was Sept. 1.