Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/30/2022
NORTHAMPTON – During a meeting on March 24, the Northampton School Committee voted 7-3 in favor of making masks optional in schools with added recommendations and guidelines based off of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and city’s Health Department.
During a meeting of the Superintendent’s Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) prior to the March 24 meeting, city Health Director Merridith O’Leary found the district to be “low-risk” for COVID-19 transmission.
In a statement from O’Leary read by Ward 7 Committee member Kaia Goleman, the health director stated that she is supportive of a mask optional district if recommendations from Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Northampton Health Department were implemented, including the continuation of contract tracing. Students who are unvaccinated must also quarantine for 10 days following exposure. According to the Northampton Health Department’s recommendations, students must test five days after exposure, as well.
The Northampton Health Department’s policy also states that a classroom exposed to COVID-19 must wear a mask for five days after exposure. School and staff would then monitor students and staff for symptoms within the next 10 days following the exposure.
According to O’Leary, masks will still be recommended for those who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, as well as individuals who are immune-compromised or have other conditions. Other mitigation strategies within the new policy also include improved air quality in classrooms, as well as a push for more vaccinations.
A day before the School Committee decided to make masks optional in the district, a new volunteer organization called MaskChoice Pioneer Valley launched for parents and students to voice their concerns about continuing to mandate masks in schools.
On March 23, parents and students of the district stood on the steps of City Hall to protest the committee’s initial decision on March 17 to continue with the district’s mask mandate, holding signs that read, “we cannot let fear drive our policy,” and “parents decide, not politicians,” plus many more.
The new organization is led by parents and students who are demanding that local officials lift mask mandates in schools immediately. The goal, according to MaskChoice volunteer and Northampton parent Emily Boddy, is to at least make masks a choice in all school districts.
“We are parents, students, and community members asking local officials to lift mask mandates in schools immediately,” said Boddy, during the protest. “We are asking that our local schools follow the science and the data that has caused the vast majority of schools across the country to drop their mask mandates.”
The first goal of MaskChoice, according to Boddy, is to obtain 500 volunteers, and then 5,000 after that. “We will not stand down until our schools follow the science and make masks optional for our students,” she said.
According to Boddy, places like Leverett and Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School are “outliers” who have decided to prolong the mask mandate. “Advocates of continued mandatory masking of children are not providing rationale in terms of the current pandemic situation,” added Boddy.
Many other concerned parents were in attendance for the March 23 protest, including Randy Baker, a Northampton parent of a child who goes to Bridge Street Elementary School. Baker expressed contempt toward the committee’s original decision to keep the mandate and told Reminder Publishing that students were not allowed to speak to each other unless they wear masks, and the only time students were allowed to take their masks off throughout the day is at lunch. “What they’re doing is disgusting,” Baker said.
Baker also pointed to the survey that the district conducted with caregivers, students, and teachers, which proved that a little over 60 percent of people in each of those demographics were either “very comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” with removing masks. “They’ve done that survey twice, and the second time they did it, it came back 2:1 that everyone feels comfortable making masks optional,” added Baker.
Boddy told Reminder Publishing that the MaskChoice organization was organically formed through various methods like social media, word-of-mouth and email chains. The organization is inviting people to join their own local chapters, as well, especially in other places throughout the state where masks are still mandated in schools. She added that people who are interested in joining the organization can reach out through their email, which is maskchoicenorthampton@gmail.com.
In a March 17 meeting, the Northampton School Committee originally voted 6-1 to maintain the mask mandate in public schools. Within this decision, the School Committee asked SHAC to develop thresholds that the committee can use when the mask mandate is dissolved or reinstated in the future. The committee also asked SHAC to explore what would be safe conditions for students to have masks off during school hours.
During the March 24 meeting, Goleman, who is a part of SHAC, read off some of the thresholds the committee came up with. According to Goleman, under the new mask-optional policy, the district must return to a mask mandate if Hampshire County returns to a high transmission rate within two weeks.
The recommendations shifted prior to the March 24 meeting after SHAC conducted conversations and developed the aforementioned guidelines for a mask-optional district. “The information we had from one week to the next made it possible for the recommendation to shift,” said Goleman. “Some of the pieces that were of greater concern before seemed less of a threat at this point because of data on the new variants and other metrics.”
“I really hope as a community we normalize masking when people feel like they need to be masked,” said Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra. “I think that is a responsibility of all of us to really allow that space for people to make those decisions.”
The new mask-optional policy went into effect on March 28.