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Date: 9/1/2021
HUNTINGTON – At the reorganization meeting for the Gateway Regional School Committee on Aug. 25, Superintendent Kristen Smidy presided over the meeting until the election of new officers, the first order of business, was completed.
Sarah Page of Russell was nominated and elected as chairperson with seven votes to three for Jason Forgue of Chester, who was then elected as vice-chair of the committee. Gateway Administrative Assistant Stacy Stewart will remain as secretary.
Committee positions filled include Lyndsey Papillon of Russell as legislative contact; Tara Balboni of Russell and new member Keri Morawiec of Blandford to serve on the Sick Bank Committee; Forgue, Morawiec and David Lubbers of Huntington to the Negotiations Committee; Page, Balboni, Morawiec and Terri Garfield of Blandford on the Superintendent’s Evaluation committee, and Morawiec, Papillon and new member Pegg Dragon of Huntington on the Policy Committee.
Lubbers was also named as a representative to the Collaborative for Educational Services, which has a new director in Todd Gazda, former Ludlow superintendent and Gateway High School principal.
With Page presiding as chair, the committee then discussed the new Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) mask mandate of Aug. 24 that requires masks for all public K-12 students, educators, and staff through October 1 “to ensure schools fully reopen safely and to provide time for more students and educators to get vaccinated,” according to the policy announcement.
After Oct. 1, the commissioner’s policy would allow middle and high schools to lift the mask mandate for vaccinated students and staff only if the school meets a certain vaccination rate – at least 80 percent of students and staff in a school building. Unvaccinated students and staff would still be required to wear masks.
Smidy said she had just received the new DESE policy that day, and had not had a chance to include it into her “Return to School” policy, which was on the agenda to be approved for the meeting. She recommended that for now the School Committee keep in place the mask mandate from the fall of 2020, requiring masks in school.
Opening up the meeting to public comment, several parents spoke, expressing their frustration with the new mask mandate.
Kayla Brady of Blandford said she liked the plan previously proposed by Smidy that left masking decisions up to parents.
Smidy’s previous plan, issued on Aug. 11 but not yet voted on by the School Committee, recommended that all students in grades K-12 wear masks when indoors, but allowed exemptions for students that are fully vaccinated, students with behavioral or medical needs that prevent healthy mask wearing and if a student’s family decided it is in the child’s best interest to not wear a mask for personal reasons.
Smidy’s plan also stated that masks may be removed while eating, while outside and during mask breaks, all of which are also in the new DESE guidance, and that fully vaccinated staff may decide to wear a mask or not, which is now not permitted in the DESE guidance.
By federal public health order, all students in grades pre-k through 12 and staff are required to wear masks on school buses and in school health offices, which has been consistent in all the policies.
“My opinion is kids shouldn’t be masked,” said Brady, a teacher in another district. To those who say COVID-19 is worse, she said for her family it wasn’t. “Children learning how to read in elementary school need to be able to see (words) modeled for them,” she said.
When asked if she had expressed her concerns to DESE and Commissioner Jeffrey Riley, Brady said she had. She said she also believed that DESE didn’t have the grounds to mandate masks, calling it “out of their scope.”
Parent Sean Heffernan of Chester said he agreed with Brady. “I don’t want to put my kids in this stuff,” he said, and objected to not allowing hybrid learning for the school year. He said if masks make someone feel better, “absolutely,” but no one had the right to tell his children they had to wear a mask.
Heffernan said the children played all summer together with no masks. He also said he was sensitive to those who suffered from COVID-19, as both of his grandparents had died from the disease. He said he didn’t want to put his child on a bus for school Monday, but he had no choice.
Smidy said this year DESE is requiring five days a week of in school learning, and she had only received the new mask mandate that day. “I would strongly recommend letting legislators know your concerns,” she said.
Forgue asked what would happen if the School Committee and district didn’t follow the mask mandate. Smidy said she had consulted the school’s attorney, who said their state funding would be in jeopardy.
School Committee representative Edward Renauld of Huntington said he had also appreciated Smidy’s earlier guidance. “I thought your policy was very thoughtful and deliberate,” he said. He also said to Heffernan that he did have other options, such as homeschooling or private school.
Renauld called the 80 percent vaccinated rate cited in the DESE memo, “an unrealistic number that will allow them to push this out.”
New Huntington member Pegg Dragon said it was her understanding that Gov. Charlie Baker had said masking was recommended but not mandated. She was informed that the Board of Education had authorized Riley’s recommendations for schools on a vote of 12 to 1 on Aug. 24.
“I did like your plan when it first came out,” said parent Kendra Gregerson of Blandford, adding that she doesn’t know whether kids are going to have to wear masks for sports and other after-school activities. She also asked what happens if students refuse to wear masks.
Smidy said that students will get mask breaks, and masks are mandated inside but not outside. “We are trying to utilize the outdoor campus as much as possible,” she said. As for the question of enforcement, Smidy said DESE has suggested “progressive discipline.” She said Gateway will focus more on counseling and support. “If they don’t comply, we’ll have conversations with the family,” she said.
Dragon asked if the district is petitioning the Board of Education. Smidy said she would be happy to write a letter.
Renauld asked if the committee could still vote to approve Smidy’s policy, but several members said they would not be comfortable voting on it at the meeting. A vote will be considered at the next meeting to put that policy in place when the DESE mandate ends.
Smidy said the overall Return to School policy had to be approved before school started on Aug. 30. A vote to waive the two-meeting rule passed, and the return to school policy was approved along with a letter from Smidy to the Board of Education, on a vote of 9 to 1, with Renauld voting no.