Walpole School Committee Discusses DESE Mask Policy Review

WALPOLE, MA - The Walpole School Committee announced at its meeting Thursday night that the indoor mask requirement in school buildings will be in place until at least Nov. 1, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Superintendent Bridget Gough said that Jeffrey Riley, the DESE commissioner, will be reviewing the mask policy"in the near future" as more data on COVID-19 becomes available.

However, if a school demonstrates that 80 percent or more of its population has been vaccinated, those individuals will not be required to wear masks, according to DESE.

"Whether or not a district avails itself to the 80 percent vaccination offramp is a local decision to be made by the school and district leaders," she noted, "in consultation with local health officials."

At that point, the School Committee will need decide whether to modify the current mask policy. Unvaccinated students and staff will still be required to wear masks indoors.

If a school reaches the 80 percent threshold, an attestation form needs to be submitted to DESE within two business days.

The YouTube video of the meeting can be viewed here.

Walpole High School's total vaccination rate currently is 72.5 percent, Gough said, up from 69.7 percent two weeks earlier. Also, 5.5 percent of WHS students have had at least one dose. There were two positive cases during the past week.

"If they get the second dose, this would increase the number to approximately 78 percent," she explained, inching closer to the 80 percent threshold. Gough cautioned that "a high percentage" of that population is overdue for the second shot. Twenty-two percent of WHS students have not been vaccinated.

Overall, Walpole's positivity rate 1.83 percent, so the town is "moving in the right direction" as rates continue to decline, she said.

The Test and Stay program has been able to keep most of the 160 students who had been exposed to a contact in class, she noted, saying it has been an effective protection strategy as part of a layered approach. The goal is to keep students attending school in person without having to revert to a hybrid model.

School nurse leader Kathi Garvin explained that staff members last school year were told to report if they were vaccinated, but they were not required to submit proof at that time. Now, because of the 80 percent threshold, they will have to show a vaccination card.

She added that she was "a little disappointed" that only 35 students signed up for the first vaccine clinic held at the high school at the beginning of the year, with 28 receiving the shot. About 20 students came to the clinic on Sept. 20.

School Committee member Kari Denitzio questioned if parents might be hesitant to have their children vaccinated because of the reported side effects of the second shot.

"Maybe families, for whatever reason, they don't want their students down for the count," she said. She noted they may be fearful of missing class or athletic practices if they develop symptoms from the vaccine.

Garvin said that receiving a vaccine will not cause a positive PCR test. If students have severe symptoms, such as an elevated temperature, they may have been exposed beforehand to the virus and should be tested.

Chair Bill Buckley complimented Garvin and her staff on doing "yeoman's work" between handling the nearly 3,000 average student interactions with nursing staff at the schools each month, in addition to the continuing challenges the pandemic has presented.

He suggested that she and Gough give an update at the next meeting on Oct. 15 and that a report be a continuing agenda item.

"We just want to be very clear in the communication that comes from us ... just exactly what the stipulations are and what we're being asked to look at," Buckley continued. "Now we've really underscored that our data is quite sound. But we are 8 percent away before we can even entertain this idea."

Member Nancy Gallivan questioned how to implement a change when the 80 percent threshold is reached, noting it would be challenging for staff to track.

"It's going to make people uncomfortable, especially as we get into the indoor and winter season," she continued, fearing that those who had to continue to wear masks would be stigmatized.

"There's a lot of other data points that I think DESE is not considering in masks and in rollbacks," member Sean Ahern added, such as vulnerable populations who cannot receive the vaccine. "Alienating a student population is an egregious way to run a state school system."