OPPONENTS OF mandated student masking demonstrated in front of Wakefield High School before Tuesday night’s School Committee meeting. The School Committee voted this week to require masks for all Wakefield students and staff when school opens in September. The state also announced this week that masking will be required statewide until at least October. (Mark Sardella Photo)
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Although the newly authorized statewide mask mandate for all K-12 students supersedes any local policy, the Wakefield School Committee went ahead and updated its own policy on face coverings at their meeting Tuesday night.
Not everyone was on board with requiring masks in school, however.
Prior to the meeting, about 25 parents and residents opposed to masking students stood in front of the high school with signs reading, “Our Children Our choice! No Mask Mandate!”
During public participation at the start of the meeting, one 10th grade WMHS student speaking via Zoom supported the mask rule. But several citizens who spoke in person were opposed to student masking.
“Are we willing to throw away our children’s freedom under the guise of medicine and use our children as pawns to get to the parents?” asked Frances Taylor of Old Nahant Road.
Michael Schwartzberg of Greenwood Avenue maintained that there was no evidence that masks are effective, adding that viruses can pass through masks.
Marissa Luongo of West Park Drive, a nurse, called masking children “unhealthy and abnormal,” adding that she was concerned about the mental health impact of masking children.
Dawn Millward of Elm Street pointed out that under the school policy, students will be unmasked while sitting together eating lunch, but must be masked in classrooms where they are further apart. She said that she didn’t want to see her kids masked all day.
“This should not be the new normal,” Millward said. “We can’t live in fear for the rest of our lives.”
Kerry Moorer of Woodcrest Drive said that the national death toll for children from the virus has not changed in a month. She insisted that there was a mental health price to be paid for masking kids. She worried about the impact on kids of not being able to see faces.
But Shiri Lieber, a 10th grade student, said, “Face masks work. I am vaccinated and I still wear a mask.” She told the School Committee that she supported masking students “for as long as necessary to keep us safe.”
The Wakefield Public School policy as updated Tuesday night remains largely the same as last year and requires that a “face covering that covers the nose and mouth must be worn by all individuals in school buildings and on school transportation, even when social distancing is observed. Face coverings should be at least two-ply and be able to stop respiratory droplets from reaching others. Gaiters, bandanas and masks with one-way valves or vents will not be permitted.”
The updated policy will no longer require masking outdoors on school grounds.
The policy does provide for some exceptions.
“Masks or face coverings will not be required for anyone who has a medical, behavioral, religious exemption, or other challenge, making it unsafe to wear a face mask or face covering. A written note from a physician or counselor is required for a requested medical or behavioral exemption. For a religious exemption, a parent or guardian may provide a written attestation indicating that the mask requirement conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs. Parents may not excuse their child from the face mask requirement by signing a waiver.”
School Superintendent Doug Lyons noted, however, that under the current superseding state mandate, religious exemptions are not allowed.
Masks will not be required during mask breaks, while eating or drinking or while outside.
There was some discussion of what would happen if the state lifts its mask mandate. Several members wondered if some benchmarks or triggers should be inserted in the school policy to indicate when those rules should be lifted or revised. No such language was inserted in the school policy document, however. It was noted that the Policy Subcommittee could be reconvened on short notice if changes were needed.
School Committee member Ami Wall wanted pre-schoolers under age 5 to be exempted from mandatory masks based on World Health Organization guidance. But Lyons and Assistant Superintendent Kara Mauro said that if some pre-school children were not masked, other children would be unable to attend pre-school.
Ultimately, the school mask policy passed by a vote of 6-1, with Wall opposed.
