Cummings recommends optional masking in schools beginning Wednesday

Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings is recommending that Grafton schools move to an optional masking policy beginning Wednesday, provided the School Committee agrees in its meeting Monday evening.

“If the School Committee votes to shift to optional masking, it will not be a perfect transition, and we will have to continue to problem solve and adapt as we have done for the past two years,” Cummings wrote in a letter to committee members, dated February 20. “One of my most significant concerns has been the health and safety of our most compromised and vulnerable students with significant health needs. I am confident that we will be able to work collaboratively between staff, students, and families to problem solve and adapt in ways that maximize the provision of healthy environments for these students. We are currently exploring the possibility of staff working with these individuals to wear masks or participate in daily testing.”

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-19 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.

Back in the beginning of February, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced that the masking mandate will be lifted for Massachusetts schools on February 28, with individual districts responsible for deciding how to proceed.

The School Committee meets at 7 p.m. Monday in Conference Room A at the Municipal Center,

Cummings’ full letter is below.

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