Mask mandate lifts in Grafton schools

Starting Wednesday, students in Grafton schools have the option to walk into the classroom maskless for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started two years ago.

The School Committee Monday night unanimously voted to make masks optional on school grounds, following the recommendation of Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings.

Calling the mask issue “messy, complex, and paired with very strong feelings,” Cummings said he did not arrive at the decision lightly. 

The recommendation comes as the Centers for Disease Control loosened its mask recommendations across most of the country. While previous guidelines focused on only Covid cases, the new recommendation factor in indicators that point to more severe outcomes, like the strain on hospital systems, in its mask suggestions. Under these guidelines, Worcester County is designated as at “medium” risk, which allows people to be unmasked in public unless their doctor recommends otherwise.

Masks will continue to be mandatory in the school nurses’ offices and for students returning to school after a bout with Covid. 

Staff working with medically fragile students will also be wearing masks or testing on a regular basis.

One of those students is Melissa Couch’s daughter Lucy, who has been unable to breathe on her own since birth. She is unable to wear a mask and, save for school, she has essentially been confined to her home for the past two years.

“Lucy is in great danger and so are many students who attend the Grafton school system,” a tearful Couch told the School Committee. “There’s just too much at risk for my family.”

Dr. Lloyd Fisher, a primary care pediatric physician, has three children in Grafton schools and has frequently advised Cummings during the pandemic.

“This generation will likely be defined by the events of the past two years,” Fisher said. 

The pandemic, and the measures taken to protect children, has led to stress, anxiety, and trauma in the process, he noted. Children’s language and social development have been affected. But the rollout of vaccines over the past year has lessened the impact of Covid.

“Vaccines are not a way to eradicate this virus,” Fisher said. “If our goal is to prevent all transmission, then masking would be a way of life forever.”

With vaccines, new treatment methods, and the drop in cases, Fisher said he believes it is safe for schools to allow students to attend without masks,

“I currently do not have a single child in my practice who I would not feel comfortable recommending that they attend school without a mask,” Fisher said.

Masks will also be optional on school buses and for school visitors. Cummings will also be able to determine, without the approval of the School Committee, if masks will be required if the region once again falls into the high-risk category.

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