February 12, 2022 By Carol Britton Meyer (iStock photo)
During a remote meeting Friday with 187 participants, the School Committee voted to allow Hingham High School to go mask-optional starting next Monday, Feb. 14, and the other five Hingham Public Schools to follow suit beginning Feb. 28 -- the date Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Commr. Jeffrey Riley is ending the the public schools masking mandate in Massachusetts.
Because this was not a regular meeting of the School Committee, no public comments were accepted.
"This has been a very difficult and polarizing [ongoing] conversation," School Committee Chair Kerry Ni said. "There are strong feelings on both sides [as to whether or not to require face masks in the schools]."
Hingham High School is likely the last public school to be granted a waiver [on Friday] from the mask requirement after reaching the required 80 percent vaccination rate for both students and staff. With the announcement of the statewide mandate, DESE is no longer accepting such requests. Masking will still be required on buses, which is a federal mandate.
Before the vote, Committee member Liza O'Reilly suggested that the Committee change its face coverings policy to allow the Supt. of Schools -- a role currently held by Interim Supt. Gary Maestas -- to make a quick decision to reinstate a temporary mask mandate if necessary.
After some discussion, Maestas was asked to weigh into the conversation. "Just from watching what has happened with the School Committee and the aggressive nature of some of our community members around [the masking] issue, I'd need to make a request for bodyguards and a bunker [should he ever be asked to, and need, to make that decision]," he said. "It would be extremely difficult for one person to take on that responsibility, but if the Committee trusted me to make that decision, I could manage it -- but it would come at a cost, as have some of the other decisions [that have been made]."
Maestas also expressed concern about seeing the "extremely dedicated and functional School Committee just beat up. It's unfortunate that it's gotten to this point."
Although he said he would accept that responsibility if asked to do so by the Committee, he has "some level of faith in [Gov. Charlie Baker] and the Department of Education that if things get carried away, there would be a move to return to a mask mandate."
Ni said while she hopes "we're on the tail end [of COVID], this would put a lot [of pressure] on our new superintendent [Dr. Margaret Adams], too." In the end, the suggested amendment was not made to the policy.
As background, the Committee's latest face covering policy discussion began at last Monday's School Committee meeting by doing a first reading of the HPS policy.
At that time, the Committee heard the results of a survey conducted by the Student Advisory Committee at the High School -- which showed an almost equal divide of opinions -- and parental input was also considered. A number of school committee members expressed appreciation for the many parents who shared their thoughts about the issue.
On Tuesday, Maestas and Ni met with representatives from the Hingham Education Association to gather their input about a potential policy change, and on Thursday, Maestas, Ni, and School Committee member Jen Benham met with the Health and Education Task Force -- composed of medical professionals and educators who provided their input earlier to the School Committee -- to hear what they had to say.
Maestas reported that the meeting with the HEA was "very productive." He explained that the Association expressed concern about the spikes in COVID cases that have occurred in the past following school vacation -- in this case following the February break, when the mandate is set to be lifted. At the same time, some feel that because so many students and other Hingham residents are vaccinated, that risk is now reduced.
The HEA also suggested a phased-in move to making HPS mask-optional. "It was a good meeting," he said. "The HEA has a sympathetic view of the School Committee and knows it's a difficult position to be in."
While neither of these suggestions was included in the policy change, Maestas expressed appreciation to the HEA "for their continued efforts to help us get through this most difficult time."
According to Maestas, the team of medical professionals in part cited the same concern about lifting the mask mandate just as students and staff are returning from February vacation and suggested that a phased-in approach might be wise. "We appreciate their work," he said.
In addition, Maestas and other superintendents received an email from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association this week announcing the sunsetting of their mask policy and guidance effective Feb. 28.
Throughout the meeting, emphasis was placed on the importance of people feeling free to wear a mask or not once the mask-optional policy takes effect and that they should be able to do so without feeling intimidated.
The purpose of Friday's meeting was to discuss all of the feedback received by the Committee and potentially vote on a policy change, which resulted in the decision as outlined above.
Committee member Michelle Ayer called the mask issue "a hot potato that no one wants to take on."
She went on to say that the divisiveness resulting from this issue "has taken a big toll on this community. We are your neighbors, friends, and sometimes family members."
At the same time, Ayer expressed appreciation for the many people who are saying thank you for all the School Committee does and acknowledging how challenging their role is, especially during the pandemic. "These letters have been heartwarming," she said. "For a long time, we haven't had that appreciation."
That said, Ayer continued, "People might be surprised when they see on the news people going to School Committee meetings . . .and making intimidating comments and say, 'That would never happen here,' but I think a couple of emails we've received would qualify as a felony under the law. It's really disturbing. . . . Most of the people are respectful, but there is a lot of divisiveness right now, and I hope [this decision] is a way to move ahead and change this conversation."
Committee members Nes Correnti and Tim Miller-Dempsey also weighed into the discussion.
"We all have to learn to work together in order to move forward," Correnti said. "I'd like to see these conversations be not so heated."
She noted that some parents whose children left the HPS during the pandemic are not sure whether they will return "due to the negativity in this town. It's disheartening. Our kids are seeing this and watching. Let's get off social media and have [actual] conversations or meet for coffee. That would be so much more [positive]. Our priority this year has been keeping as many students and teachers in school for as much in-person learning as possible to meet their academic and social-emotional needs."
Masking is not the most pressing issue facing the HPS, Miller-Dempsey said. "We have a new superintendent, we'll be hiring a new business director, working on the strategic plan for the schools, and [are proposing] to build a new elementary school [Foster] -- all during budget season."
He went on to say that he would like to see 187 people go to meetings to support the proposed school budget, to express their opinions on what they would like to see in the new business director, to attend meetings about Foster School, and to reach out to Adams to ask how they can support her.
"This is not the end of COVID, and this is not the point where we walk away from the schools," Miller-Dempsey said. "I'm in favor of rescinding the mask mandate, but we have bigger challenges facing us."