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Date: 2/22/2022
SPRINGFIELD – With the impacts of the omicron variant beginning to dwindle, the School Committee reviewed COVID-19 updates during their Feb. 10 meeting. The committee and Springfield officials agreed to extend the expiring mask mandate within schools until the end of March.
Nursing Director Jeanne Clancy and Health and Human Services Director Helen Caulton-Harris joined the meeting to highlight their perspectives on COVID-19 in the wake of Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision to lift the school’s mask mandate on Feb. 28. As Superintendent Daniel Warwick noted, the state’s decision still allows each school district to make their own choices regarding a mask mandate.
Prior to the meeting, Caulton-Harris shared that she, Clancy and Warwick gathered for a meeting to discuss recommendations for Springfield Public School’s handling of a mask mandate. “We did look at data. We did talk through the trends we are seeing city-wide as well as in Springfield Public Schools,” said Caulton-Harris.
Clancy expressed that COVID-19 case numbers continue to decrease throughout the schools. After experiencing a one-week case number high of 789 students and 196 staff members in January, the week of the meeting featured a significant drop to 120 students and 42 staff, respectively. The nursing director said the dwindling numbers are a byproduct of local case trends and the school district’s extensive COVID-19 prevention methods.
“We feel this is happening because all of our mitigation strategies,” said Clancy, who shared that most recorded positive cases within schools stem from the district’s Pool Testing program. While she shared encouragement with the improving conditions, Clancy ultimately recommended that Springfield Public Schools continues their mask mandate until Mar. 31.
Caulton-Harris expressed support for Clancy’s decision, citing the fact that most positive cases are still occurring within the youth populous. “A good majority of the cases that we have in the city are under the age of 20. The majority over the last three weeks are in that 0-10 age group,” said Caulton-Harris. She stressed the importance of protecting the “disproportionately effected” age group as students continue to catch-up in terms of vaccinations.
To improve vaccination numbers, Clancy explained that the school district is continuing to offer vaccination clinics. The first seven clinics ran by the district accumulated 475 doses of the vaccine, as well as offering the flu shoot vaccine, according to Clancy. She also shared that the school’s vaccination clinic partner Behavior Health Network plans to operate vaccine clinics during each day of school vaccination.
The health and human services director shared her support for the school district’s vaccination efforts, noting that Springfield’s 62.5 percent vaccination rate still lags behind Massachusetts’ 78 percent vaccination rate. “We need to get those vaccination rates up. We’re hopefully that by continuing to do a full-press outreach, we can successfully increase our vaccination rates,” said Caulton-Harris.
The School Committee will meet again on Mar. 3.