South Hadley, Granby Superintendents discuss mask mandate in schoolsDate: 8/30/2021 WESTERN MASS. – Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeffrey Riley mandated on Aug. 24 that all students and staff in public schools are now required to wear masks indoors.
This mask requirement is set to remain in place until Oct. 1, upon which time, after that date, middle and high schools may be allowed to lift their mask mandates if 80 percent or more of their students and staff combined are vaccinated against COVID-19.?According to the policy, “DESE?will provide additional information to districts in the coming weeks in preparation for the Oct. 1 date, including how to demonstrate the 80 percent vaccination rate threshold.”
According to the State House News Service, the policy applies to students 5 years of age and up and “strongly”?recommends that younger students also wear masks, however it does exempt students that can’t wear a mask for behavioral or medical reasons and staff who can’t wear masks for medical reasons.
Reminder Publishing reached out to local superintendents to hear their thoughts on this guidance.
Granby
Superintendent of Granby Public Schools Stephen Sullivan said Riley’s mandate was the guidance the district had been waiting for. “I appreciate, even though it came later than I hope and other superintendents probably hoped, having that mandate at the state level is helpful,” he said. Sullivan explained it would eliminate comparisons between school districts in neighboring communities.
He continued, “There’s continuity with it, that’s what we’ve been looking for with the state for the past year. It hasn’t always been present, but better late than never.” Sullivan said the town was already “kind of headed in that direction,” after a town-wide indoor mask mandate had been implemented a couple weeks prior to Riley’s announcement.
Sullivan said the district was facing “a couple of obstacles” with regard to being able to hit the 80 percent vaccination rate by Oct. 1. One of the obstacles was simply being able to have a way to track those who were vaccinated and those who were not.
“Families would have to provide and be willing to provide that information. There would likely be some bargaining with the union to determine if teachers would be willing to share that information,” he said. Sullivan went on to say that while he thought it was “good to have a goal,” he was interested in the guidance that was due to come in the weeks following the mandate and was curious to see how surrounding school districts would collect the information about vaccinations.
Should the district reach the 80 percent vaccination rate by Oct. 1, he said while the district would be open to having a discussion about removing the mask mandate for students and staff, it would also require some conversations to take place. “I think it would cause some people to hit the break a little and cause some people to ask some questions, especially if we don’t have a mechanism to really, truly know who is vaccinated,” he said.
With regard to handling those who may be in opposition to the mandate, he said the district would work with families. However, ultimately, he said, “We start to look at the common good, the good for all. While you might not want to or do disagree, I think at some point I think we need to put some of our personal beliefs aside for the good of everyone,” he said. Sullivan also acknowledged that refusal to wear masks looked different based on the grade.
“I think the second grader and the 10th grader not wearing it might be different approaches,” he said. Ultimately, Sullivan said they would provide education and other resources to help those understand why it was necessary and important to wear masks. He added that both the local union and Massachusetts Teachers’ Association have been supportive of mask wearing in classrooms. He said, however, mandated vaccines was “just a different conversation.”
Sullivan said the district was open to working with the Granby Board of Health to help those not vaccinated to do so if they wished. “We’ve reached out and are open to offering vaccinations here on campus,” he said. “We just need a certain number of people, I think it’s 35, to be interested.”
He added that the town had partnered with neighboring communities before to try to “encourage people who haven’t been vaccinated to take advantage” of the opportunity to be vaccinated. Those who would be interested in a clinic should reach out to Granby Public Schools Nurse Leader Nancy Jenks at njenks@granbyschoolsma.net.
South Hadley
South Hadley Public Schools Superintendent Jahmal Mosley said the district had already been prepared for the mask mandate, as they made the decision to begin the year with masks required in the weeks prior to Riley’s decision. “I think it was because of the way the information came out, it aligned with our next School Committee meeting. We anticipated it being an issue or concern,” he said. “We support it, ultimately I think everyone in the commonwealth will agree that we want to keep our kids in school in person.”
Mosley said while he was unsure if the district would meet the 80 percent vaccination goal by Oct. 1, he hoped that would be the case. “I wish we were all vaccinated. I know this is not the short game, it’s the long game. We just have to prepare for that,” he said. Mosley added that while he did not speak for the South Hadley Education Association, he knew they were “supportive of any measures that will keep students and staff safe.”
Should the district meet the vaccination requirement in October, he said the decision to lift the mask mandate would be made based on the data and number of cases at that time. Should the county and town still be considered a high risk, he said removing masks “is going to be a no,” but it was an ongoing conversation. “You don’t want to go back to high risk,” he said.
“I think someone said always plan for the worst until the worst has passed. We’re always going to take preventative measures until it’s not severe, we don’t want to get it to that point,” he said. “If we have the opportunity to be unmasked and do it, we will certainly do it when the numbers tell us to do so. We’re still going to be vigilant, as much as we can do outside, and we will be extra cautious and careful inside.”
Mosley emphasized the importance of vaccinations and stated the state was “really stressing the vaccination piece to it.” He explained at the town’s Labor Day celebration on Sept. 4, there would be free vaccinations offered to all at the Michael E. Smith Middle School on 100 Mosier St. from 1 - 8 p.m. “I encourage all unvaccinated or people eligible for vaccination to participate and enjoy fireworks,” he said.
He continued, “Ultimately, the goal is to have all kids in school.” From attending classes, learning curriculum, to participating in clubs and social activities such as sports, he said, “All of those things we want to see happen.”
Mosley said he felt as though it was important for families and community members to remember this was about more than just individuals. “We cannot think of the individual, but think of the we. COVID[-19] doesn’t think of the individual, it will go after the community. We have to think like a community,” he said, adding it was important to remember those, including children, who have compromised immune systems or “don’t have the immune systems of others.”
“The only way to defeat COVID[-19] is acting as one, not just South Hadley, but the nation. Not the me, but the we,” he said.
Holyoke
While Holyoke Public Schools Superintendent/Receiver Anthony Soto was busy preparing for the first day of school on Aug. 24, he sent a statement of support for Riley’s mandate to Reminder Publishing. It said, “We support Commissioner Riley's recent mandate about masking indoors at least through October 1. Given our city's vaccination rates and our family survey data where the large majority supported masking indoors, his guidance supported our current plan. We are quite far away from the vaccination thresholds, so we are beginning to examine data and potential processes internally, but are not making a commitment either way. We would need to work with the Board of Health, our employee unions, our families, and other stakeholders before making a decision.”
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