Hopkinton Students And Staff Will Be Required To Wear Masks

HOPKINTON, MA — In a unanimous decision Thursday night, the school committee agreed that all students and staff will begin the 2021-2022 school year wearing face coverings.

The mask mandate is temporary and the decision whether to mask will be revisited every three to four weeks.

"Our hope is that within the first three weeks [of school] we'll have a better idea of when vaccinations may be available for younger students," School Committee Chairwoman Nancy Cavanaugh said. "We don't know so many things like if/when a third vaccine will be available, and after three weeks, we can compare our data to other school districts who have made different choices."

In Hopkinton, 88 percent of 12 to 15 year olds are fully vaccinated while 95 percent of 16 to 19 year olds are fully vaccinated as of Aug. 18.

Despite the high vaccination rate, "we should err on the side of caution for only a few weeks and then see from there," Meg Tyler, school committee member, said.

Every agency has made recommendations but none have required that masks be worn or required that masks not be worn, Carol Cavanaugh said, but "the biggest concern is that the Delta Variant is much more contagious."

"We have different tools available now than we did last year," said Nancy Cavanaugh.

Carol Cavanough said that the district is focusing on a multi-layered approach, which includes staying home when sick, wearing masks, and practicing good hand hygiene.

The schools can use "test and stay" along with contact tracing so that if students present with symptoms, they can stay in school if they receive a negative result using a rapid antigen test.

School Committee Member Joe Markey said, "I am so happy that we are opening the school year with every day in school.

"I think last year was a disaster for public education in Massachusetts because it left the decision to each individual school district, which led to a lot of deficiencies."

Amanda Fargiano, school committee vice chairwoman, said "I have been blown away by the thoughtful communications from the community. All comments were offered respectfully."

Along with public comment at the start of the meeting, the school committee received letters from the community, one with more than 200 signatures opposing the use of masks, and another with more than 600 signatures requesting a mask mandate.

"It sucks that we did the right things but it may not be enough," School Committee Member Lya Batlle-Rafferty said. She compared wearing masks to making accommodations for students with nut allergies — schools need to create a safe spaces for everyone.

Hopkinton has had 1,081 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 17 deaths and seven active cases.

The school committee will reevaluate the mask mandate at its Sept. 23 meeting.