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Date: 8/17/2021
HATFIELD – With school set to begin on Aug. 26, the Hatfield Board of Health announced on Aug. 13 it would be requiring masks in school buildings while the School Committee works to finalize its COVID-19 policy for the beginning of the school year.
With a final policy still in the works, interim Superintendent of Schools Michael Wood said the policy will likely be like the one used last year.
“We are going to do many of the precautions the district did last year. The committee has not resolved its final policy, but we discussed masks, the cleaning protocols, the availability of mask breaks, going outside more, wearing masks on the buses, which is required by [the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education],” he said.
Because the measures were successful in keeping schools open from April to the end of the year, Wood said any policies will be like those.
“Those measures were successful with being able to stay open from April until the end of the year, there will not be anything different from last year,” he said.
While outdoor teaching is not in the cards, Wood said he wants to make sure students get plenty of time outside for recess and mask breaks.
“We want to make sure the kids get outdoor time during recess and make sure they have time to do their mask breaks outdoors. One of the mitigation strategies is making sure our air filter systems are taking as much fresh air in as possible and keeping the windows open,” he said.
While the district would not be limiting class sizes for the start of the year to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Wood said many of the classes are naturally smaller.
“The good news is we have many class sizes that are naturally smaller, but we are not doing any planned class changes to lessen the class sizes. The social distancing will be as natural courses of actions as needed. For example, with mask breaks it would be making sure they are at least three feet apart,” he said.
As of Aug. 12, Wood said the district would not be requiring staff to be fully vaccinated.
Because a member was absent from the School Committee’s Aug. 11 meeting, the policy could not be finalized.
“We had one member missing from last night’s meeting, so it was split. There were two in favor and two that had some concerns about having a requirement. That is the work the policy committee has ahead of them this week, to find a policy that meets in the middle,” Wood said.
While the School Committee was split on a mask mandate, on Aug. 13, the Hatfield Board of Health released a mandate requiring everyone in school buildings to wear a mask or other face covering.
“In an effort to protect public health, all individuals over the age of two shall be required to wear a mask or cloth face covering that covers their mouth whenever they are indoors in any Hatfield school building, regardless of vaccination status, with allowances for health issues that would be compromised,” the mandate said.
Wood said the School Committee Policy Subcommittee was scheduled to meet on Aug. 17 to finalize the policy before bringing it before the full committee on Aug. 18. Reminder Publishing will have coverage of the final policy in Aug. 26 edition.