CLAREMONT — The School Board voted 5-2 at a special meeting Wednesday to revise its COVID-19 protocols making masks optional at all times for students and visitors and removing all restrictions on visitors to the schools.
Board Vice Chairwoman Heather Whitney made the initial motion, which was later amended to make the changes effective Monday. Whitney also proposed making masks optional on buses but, because that would be in violation of federal rules, the board will continue that mandate. Students who test positive for COVID will still have to wear a mask for five days after returning to school from a required five-day absence.
Other changes include removing all restrictions on indoor and outdoor use of all school buildings; leaving seating assignments to the discretion of the teacher because contact tracing is no longer being done; and removing recommendations for Plexiglas barriers in the classroom. Limitations on spectators and masks requirements at athletic and co-curricular activities will follow state guidelines.
“It is time to put children first,” Whitney said. “Mandates hurt our kids.”
The latest guidelines, as of Jan. 13, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to recommend masks for all K-12 students.
Board member Joshua Lambert, who voted against the changes along with Rob Lovett Jr., said now is not the time to relax masking protocols because COVID remains a serious health threat, particularly for adults.
“Right now it is not a great idea,” Lambert said. “Our numbers (COVID cases) are much higher than they were at the beginning of the year, and the CDC still recommends universal masking indoors.”
Lambert said staff are the ones most at risk and pointed to a recent situation in Charlestown where he said the number of staff out with COVID almost forced the district to return to remote learning.
He wanted the board to wait until the weather warms up, windows can be opened and ventilation in classrooms improved.
“What happens if numbers spike again? What then?” Lambert asked. “Why not wait until spring?”
A few residents weighed in as well.
One said the board was not acting on science or medical experts but rather their own opinions.
“There is not a strong argument to change, just opinions,” he said. “To say you don’t feel like it is wrong for the children. If you are not trusting the experts, you are just making guesses.”
But Whitney said they are giving parents a choice and staff members can wear an N95 mask, which the district has in large supply. She also said she believes mask mandates are having “dramatic consequences” on children’s mental health.
“The School Board is here to do what is best for children,” Whitney said.
Board member Mike Petrin, who works in a residential facility where he said he saw people die from COVID, said a lot has changed with vaccines and treatment, many cases now are mild and 95% of residents at the facility where he works are vaccinated.
“It is time to push forward,” Petrin said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
