Baker lifts mask mandate for schools at end of month; Grafton weighs option
Gov. Charlie Baker has declared the COVID-19 mask mandate in Massachusetts schools will be fully lifted as of February 28 — but that does not mean Grafton students can toss their face coverings.
Masking policies revert to local control as of that date, and the School Committee will not be discussing the matter until their March 8 meeting.
“The School Committee may end up adding a separate meeting to focus on this issue, that has yet to be determined,” Superintendent of School Jay Cummings said in a message to parents.
On Monday, the Board of Health lifted Grafton’s mask mandate as of February 18, stressing that residents should still don masks while in crowded indoor spaces as well as make sure their families are vaccinated.
”Today’s announcement is another big step forward to safely manage COVID while we get back to what I would describe as the familiar and normal aspects of school and life,” Baker said during a State House briefing Wednesday.
By a federal order, masks are still required on all school buses.
High vaccination rates among the school-age population and overall make lifting the statewide mandate possible, Baker said, and school testing programs will allow any Covid cases to be identified quickly.
”Most states don’t have a kind of surveillance testing program that we have in place. Most states don’t have pool testing,” Baker said. “Most states don’t have take-home tests. We also have one of the lowest hospitalization rates in the country.”
The state is not accepting any additional waiver requests (for no masking), and there are no state vaccination percentage requirements associated with masking going forward. In December, the state granted waivers to school districts that could demonstrate a vaccination rate of 80 percent or above, a benchmark Grafton did not achieve.
Cummings told the School Committee Tuesday that Grafton High now has 81 percent of students and staff vaccinated while the middle school has 78 percent. In the elementary schools, rates have steadily rose as vaccines for younger children rolled out: 45 percent for Millbury Street, 48 percent for North Street, 34 percent for North Grafton and 49 percent for South Grafton.
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