Norwood Responds To DESE School Mask Policy Announcement

NORWOOD, MA - School officials reacted this week to the decision of the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or DESE, to implement theuniversal wearing of masks in school buildings at least until October 1. However, it does not impact the prior decision the School Committee made on August 4 to require mask use.

Norwood School Committee chair Teresa Stewart said on August 25 that she supported the vote by DESE's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) the previous day to require universal mask wearing in schools through October 1, when it will be reviewed. She noted that DESE either has not provided guidance on school policy over the course of the pandemic, or that its recommendations have been in conflict with those of other government advisory entities.

"The BESE vote that happened on 8/24, that granted Commissioner Riley the authority to mandate statewide universal masking in public schools, is a vote I support," she said. "However, it won't change anything in Norwood specifically since we already locally decided at our August 4 School Committee meeting to reinstate our universal masking policy, in accordance with the recommendations of the CDC and AAP," she said. "My understanding from the MASC [Massachusetts Association of School Committees] is that over the past month, more than 100 districts have already put in place universal masking policies, since guidance from the state wasn't forthcoming.

Link to August 4 School Committee meeting, courtesy of Norwood Community Media (NCM): http://173.13.93.5:1500/Cablec...

"Some of the most arduous aspects of the last year and a half have been either waiting for guidance from the state when decisions locally needed to be made, or receiving guidance from the state that did not align with recommendations from the CDC or AAP," Stewart added.

"With this state mandate, other districts will now also require universal masking," she continued. While the topic has been contentious with parents in Norwood and across the state, she called the statewide policy "a solid approach to keeping the students and staff in all Massachusetts public schools safer, and hopefully fully learning in person this fall."

She praised the work of Superintendent David Thomson, Director of Public Health Sigalle Reiss, and Jill Driscoll, the school department's head nurse in maintaining the quality of public education in Norwood while safeguarding the health of students and staff.

"The responsibilities and significant decisions placed on local school committees since March 2020 have been challenging and time consuming" Stewart explained. "I am proud of the work ethic and dedication of my colleagues, all Norwood administrators, our town's board of health and health director. This has really been a partnership since day one; and I think in Norwood we have accomplished a lot in terms of keeping our community safer and supported."

Seventy people tuned into a Facebook Livestream with Thomson after the decision was announced to update the community on protocols. He also answered live questions as well as those made in a survey put together by the school department, which received 70 responses.

While the state is requiring mask use in schools, there was no guidance on social distancing requirements.

"It seems the push is masks is sort of the first and best defense, and distancing is not as important as masks," he said.

He commended the School Committee "for having the intestinal fortitude" to vote for the mask policy earlier in the month, citing the number of summer programs that are run and the risk of exposure to the delta variant that potentially could have led to an outbreak before the start of the school year.

There will be frequent, age-appropriate mask breaks for students, Thomson added.

In response to a question on if the School Committee can make decisions based on healthcare, Thomson said that "the School Committee does have the authority to make public health decisions and policies to protect the public health of the children, which is what this comes under.

The school department works colosely with the public health department to take into account the latest data on the virus, he said.

He noted that last year, there was only one case of school-based transmission of the virus where a student developed COVID-19. It was "partially due to not wearing a mask for a period of time."

Remote learning will not be allowed by BESE this school year.

Thomson noted that Norwood was ahead of many districts during the pandemic, purchasing Chromebooks for students long before they became scarce. Also, then remote learning was offered, it was with a live teacher in the classroom, which many districts did not offer.

Thomson will provide an update on COVID-19 policies at the next School Committee meeting on Sept 1.