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2-12-2022 12:19am
School Committee Received Over 400 Comments on Masking Policy Before Rescinding It
Darlene Cancell
Editor
In its meeting on Thursday evening, February 10, 2022, Westwood's School Committee unanimously voted to rescind its mask policy for all schools in Westwood Public Schools, effective February 28, 2022. The policy currently in place since the start of the school year is that masks must be worn inside school buildings.
Committee Chair Maya Plotkin revealed that the committee had received 52 responses on the masking question in October last year and 342 responses this month in advance of February’s meeting. She stated that the School Committee had read every comment. Although a specific breakdown of the number in support or against masking was not given, Ms. Plotkin said that a “significant majority” of the comments support a mask exemption or removal of the mask mandate.
The issue for commenters had been whether the School Committee should apply to the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for a waiver of masking requirements in school buildings where students and staff have achieved vaccination rates of 80 percent or more. However, a day ahead of School Committee's Thursday meeting, DESE announced that the state's masking policy in schools would be rescinded. Therefore, the issue before the School Committee became instead the question of whether to maintain the masking policy as a local measure, or to follow DESE's lead.
The committee allowed 30 minutes of on-the-record public input. Fourteen residents provided comments. Five people attended in-person to make their comments. Nine people participated by voice remotely, via Zoom, despite the difficulties that they described with Zoom's audio.
Those providing comment on-the-record were evenly divided between advocates for unmasking and those who preferred to delay unmasking until sometime after winter. A few residents relayed concerns about implementing changes, but did not specifically state a position one way or another.
All six health professionals who commented – five doctors and one nurse – advocated for maintaining mask wearing in schools, noting that the rates of COVID-19 transmission and hospitalizations remain high in Westwood and Norfolk County, despite the town's high vaccination rate.
Image from Westwood Public Schools website. The chart shows vaccination rates of the Westwood Public Schools community as of the end of January 2022.Indeed, on January 11, 2022, Westwood's Board of Health voted to mandate face coverings inside all town buildings. The Board of Health's mandate is currently still in place. It requires a high quality, properly fitting face covering in all indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status. School buildings, however, were not included in that order, as they fall under the authority of Westwood's School Committee.
In a letter dated February 1, 2022 in which Health Director Jared Orsini referenced the town's recent mask mandate, he noted, "In Westwood, we recorded 624 new cases of COVID-19 from January 1 2022 to January 31, 2022. This total is the highest monthly total we have recorded since the pandemic began, besting the 440 cases we had in December 0f 2021."
A week following Mr. Orsini's letter, weekly data reported by the state on February 10, 2022, shows that Westwood's percent positivity rate is lower than the previous week, but is high at 9.51%. Westwood's 14 day average daily incidence rate is 57.4 cases per 100,000 residents, higher than the rate for Norfolk County overall, which is 48.6 cases per 100,000 residents.
Statewide, over the last two weeks, the highest case rates have been in 5 to 9 year-old age group. After that, case rates among age groups in descending order are 0 to 4, 15 to 19, 10 to 14, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 80+, 50-59, and 70-79.
Image (cropped) from MA Department of Health. This chart shows the COVID-19 case rate by age from Jan. 23 - Feb. 5, 2022. For a more comprehensive look at the COVID-19 Interactive Data Dashboard, click this image.Subscribe to Westwood Minute's FREE email newsletter for local news every day!
Westwood's resident physicians tended to highlight transmission rates, hospital admissions, and lack of evidence that mask-wearing causes harm as reasons to keep the mask requirement in schools.
In contrast, advocates in favor of unmasking tended to focus on students' mental health. One resident stated that children's risk of death is higher by suicide, car accidents, and overdoses compared to COVID-19.
Before the vote, School Committee Clerk Anthony Mullin framed his reasoning in terms of a "social contract." He said, “We asked people in the community to get vaccinated. We’ve done that at a very high level. And so I think we now owe them to do the other side of that. I think we need to move away from the mask mandate.”
Mr. Mullin also noted that voting now to lift the district’s mask policy would provide a week for socialization and normalization before a February 28, 2022 effective date. Other COVID-19 mitigation measures will still be in place, he said, such as ventilation, testing, and required masking when in health offices.
School Committee Member Amanda Phillips explained her wish that the community continue to protect high risk, vulnerable students. She hoped an unmasked community would take heed of the fact that COVID-19 is not yet over. People should continue to stay home when sick and be tested to protect the vulnerable, she said.
School Committee Member Carol Lewis noted the importance of creating a culture in schools where every child is comfortable in making an individual choice of whether to mask or not. She suggested that instead of a “masks optional” message, a “masks encouraged” message might help better ensure that children who want or are required to wear masks will feel comfortable.
Chair Maya Plotkin noted that families who don’t have N95 or KN95 masks can obtain them from the school district. She expressed confidence that students will be accepting of each other, regardless of their choice to mask or unmask.
School Committee Vice Chair Charles Donahue also noted his support of lifting the mask policy, although noting concerns about students returning from February Break travel. He also cautioned preparedness for the next variant. Mr. Donahue expressed he would be in favor of removing masks for all Westwood schools at the end of the month, and at the high school immediately.
A student who identified herself as “the high school representative” said that feelings of students are split between being masked or unmasked. She described notable student anxiety over removing masks right after February Break. Students are worried over a possible spike in COVID-19 infections following vacation travel, she said.
Mr. Mullins made a motion to rescind the mask policy for all Westwood schools on February 28, 2022. The agreement from all committee members was immediate and unanimous.
The School Committee's decision puts Westwood Public Schools on the same timeline as what was set forth by the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education. On Wednesday, the state’s Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley announced that DESE was lifting the statewide masking requirement for schools, effective February 28, 2022. Westwood School Committee's decision also follows a decision by Walpole's School Committee on Thursday to rescind its mask requirement for students in Walpole Public Schools.
Proposed Budget and Student Recognitions
Following the vote to rescind its masking policy, the Westwood School Committee swiftly moved to take action on the FY 2023 budget. The committee unanimously approved the budget which will be sent to the Finance & Warrant Committee for review. It will then be placed before residents of the town for a vote at the Annual Town Meeting in spring. The proposal includes an operating budget for the school district of just under $52 million and a capital budget of $1,017,000, representing an overall increase of 3.5 percent.
Superintendent Parks also recognized the achievements of a number of exceptional students in the district. Thurston Middle School eighth grader Charles Goodman submitted the winning entry in a screenwriting competition where his entire field of competition was represented by adults. The Westwood Girls Field Hockey Team was recognized for bringing home the school's first MIAA Division 2 state championship win in their sport.
Last November, the Wolverines prevailed, 1-0, over Nashoba Regional in overtime in the state final. At Thursday's meeting, team members each received a plaque and a copy of Select Board's proclamation declaring December 7, 2021 as Westwood Girls Field Hockey Day.
