How much longer can the town’s boards Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, ah-Zoom?

With the COVID-19 state of emergency ending in Massachusetts this month, the Grafton’s town committees are contemplating a giant change to how Grafton committees now conduct their business: should they get off Zoom and meet in person?

The School Committee on Tuesday will be the first to break from quarantine protocols, meeting in person in the Municipal Center’s Conference Room F at 7 p.m. The meeting will be broadcast live on GCTV but will not, for the first time since last spring, have remote participation through Zoom.

School Committee Chair Amy Marr said making the meeting in-person is now allowed under COVID-19 protocols, and there is a special reason for starting this week: the school district will be recognizing Grafton High School Principal Jim Pignataro, who is retiring at the end of the month.

The Select Board last week was a little more cautious in how it is approaching the return to in-person meetings. Since Zoom has increased the number of people who are actively watching meetings — and made it easier to bring in comments and town officials — they hoped to incorporate virtual participation with the board meeting in-person.

Conference Room A is the only room set up for remote participation, Town Administrator Evan Brassard noted. The COVID-19 alteration to open meeting laws that allowed Zoom to be used for public meetings is also due to sunset on June 15, although a legislative bill to extend it through fall is pending.

Select Board member Colleen Roy suggested that June 22 should be the board’s first post-Zoom session.

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