CHARLEMONT — The Hawlemont and Mohawk Trail regional school districts will transition to a mask-optional status in schools beginning March 14, despite opposition from Hawlemont Nurse Sherry Hager at Monday’s School Committee meeting.
Superintendent Sheryl Stanton said the recommendation stems from discussions held between the two districts last week amid low COVID-19 infection rates across Franklin County. The Charlemont Board of Health has also lifted the townwide mask mandate, effective March 7. The Hawlemont School Committee decided to allow emergency reinstatement of a mandate “if an uptick in cases occurs,” Chair Hussain Hamdan said.
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 masks are still required on other forms of public transportation.
Hawlemont administrators and School Committee members collectively emphasized Monday that wearing masks will continue to be accepted, should some students feel inclined to wear them.
“Nobody’s ever said you can’t wear a mask,” committee member Charlie Ricko said. “I’m more in favor of freedom of choice.”
Member Jim Walsh, while in favor of lifting the mask requirement, recognized that some students are likely “still attached to them in various ways.”
“It can reflect on the health needs of any of their family or friends who might have a special need or risk of getting sick from it,” member Suzanne Crawford added.
Prior to the committee’s decision, Hager read a prepared speech advocating to continue the mandate “until at least May 1” when more time has passed, indoor ventilation improves and classes can more easily move outdoors.
“While numbers are trending downward at this time, caution is warranted to make sure we are not unmasking too early,” Hager said.
She continued by arguing that “surges have been known to occur after vacations and travel times,” and that a resulting re-implementation of the mandate would “disrupt students’ and teachers’ routines” as they re-adjust.
Later in her speech, Hager highlighted social concerns, hypothesizing that the caution taken by those opting to wear masks would create “a divide amongst our students, parents and school community.”
“Bullying in schools over mask wearing has been reported by local news media across the nation,” she said. “Students wearing masks and those not, apparently, have been bullied and ridiculed, though it appears those wearing masks are more commonly targets.”
The motion to go mask-optional starting March 14 was approved by the Hawlemont School Committee shortly after Hager presented.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.