GREENFIELD — An in-person School Committee meeting scheduled to discuss the Greenfield School Department’s mask policy and to review the superintendent’s proposed budget barely made it past the public comment portion Tuesday night, following several residents’ refusals to wear masks while at the meeting in the Greenfield High School cafeteria.
After closing public comment, the meeting was adjourned on the advice of legal counsel, according to Chair Amy Proietti. A remote meeting has since been posted for March 3 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the mask policy. The budget discussion will occur at a later date.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeffrey Riley announced last month that the statewide mask requirement would be lifted Feb. 28, at which point local school districts would have the authority to develop their own policies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also relaxed its guidance for mask wearing on school buses, though they are still required on other forms of public transportation.
“Many mask mandates have been lifted across the commonwealth — across the nation — and the city of Greenfield chose to lift their mandate the Friday before we went on break … timing that was abysmal and leads to a lot of confusion,” Proietti explained at the start of Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s unfortunate that that’s how that happened, without any collaboration with the School Committee.”
Under the current district policy, face coverings are required by all people inside school buildings, and adults must continue to wear masks outdoors if social distancing cannot be maintained. While outdoors — whether for recess, physical education, youth sports or an outdoor learning environment — students are not required to wear face coverings.
However, several members of the public, including Precinct 7 City Councilor Jasper Lapienski, declined to wear a mask despite repeated reminders of the school policy. Attendees were reminded they would need to wear a mask in accordance with the policy if they wished to offer a public comment.
The only person who formally addressed the School Committee on the subject of masking was Brendan Leowolf, the film studies teacher at Greenfield High School.
“My job has been made really, really difficult by some of the policies put in place, in spite of your best intentions to do the best you can with the knowledge you have,” said Leowolf, who said he spoke on behalf of his “unmasked neighbors.” “Teaching remotely was absurd. Teaching wearing a mask all day has been so challenging and made me not want to be a teacher.”
He said COVID-19 has become endemic, and something “we’re going to be dealing with forever.”
“We don’t need to wear masks forever,” Leowolf said. “We’re told they prevent the spread of COVID, which is mostly untrue.”
The CDC has recommended the use of masks, citing at least 10 studies that have confirmed their benefit as a tool for reducing viral transmission. It also noted shortcomings in two studies that resulted in outcomes that demonstrated cloth and surgical masks offered no benefit.
Following Leowolf’s remarks, several attempts were made by non-masked individuals to approach the committee, which resulted in a clash between the public and the committee that ultimately ended the meeting.
Before the public comment period, Superintendent Christine DeBarge relayed to the committee the results of a poll among staff members regarding what they would like to see moving forward. As for masks, 42% felt they should no longer be required; 39% said they’d feel more comfortable waiting to lift the mandate until after February vacation; and 19% reported they would prefer to continue wearing masks.
When asked about mitigation strategies, 31% said they would like to see all mitigation strategies remain in place; 16% said they would like all mitigation strategies lifted as long as a mask policy remains in place; 32% said all pandemic rules should be lifted; and finally, 20% said some mitigation strategies should be lifted while others remain in place.
Greenfield Health Director Jennifer Hoffman and Public Health Nurse Meghan Tudryn were invited to provide the School Committee with an update on COVID-19 cases and protocols.
Tudryn reported that in February, the city had 232 COVID-19 cases, compared to 53 cases in February 2021.
“I don’t really have strong opinion either way on which way you go with this, but I just want you to have all the data,” Tudryn said. “Our cases are still very high compared to last year.”
School Committee member Glenn Johnson-Mussad asked for an explanation on the CDC’s recommendation to loosen mask mandates, while cases are still high.
“Is it simply an acknowledgement of how far we’re going to get as far as vaccinations, and that we’re going to have to live with COVID as an endemic?” he asked.
Tudryn said those recommendations are attributed to the CDC’s classification of the virus as endemic, meaning there is likely to be a constant presence of the virus.
“That’s their big reasoning — it’s not going to go away,” she said, also noting treatments that are available now weren’t available when the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago.
She emphasized the “layered approach” to preventing spread, acknowledging that even vaccinated people can become infected.
Proietti asked why public health guidance seems to change from day to day, particularly with regard to masks. The change in guidance can feel like “whiplash,” she said.
“We’re still learning every day as we go,” Hoffman said. “We’ve never had COVID. The closest we had was the Spanish flu, and we’re going on data from that. They did not have vaccines at that period in time.”
Hoffman added that there are certain periods during which public health officials are prepared for spikes — at the holidays, for example.
“Having masks, not having masks — I think there’s a psychological component in that people are done with the pandemic,” she said. “I think people are done with wearing masks. I think, unfortunately, people just don’t want to deal with it. The reality is, just like other diseases, like the flu, COVID is here. Even though we might not want to contend, we still have to — but we have to find compromise, it seems.”
The virtual meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday can be accessed via Webex at bit.ly/3HCdCu0. Participants can also join by phone by dialing 1-408-418-9388 and entering the meeting ID, 2632 991 5589.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.