LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High School students may be getting a headstart doing something they haven’t done for nearly two years — going maskless inside the building.
The district received a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) waiver for Lynnfield High School last Friday, opening the door for the School Committee to consider a vote Tuesday night to implement a mask-optional policy for the school as early as Wednesday.
The waiver was granted just days after the high-school’s vaccination rate topped out at 80 percent, the benchmark number established by DESE for schools to apply for waivers of state mask mandates.
“We ran our numbers on Monday as we were really close to begin with, but we hit the exact 80-percent number so we were able to get (the waiver application) in just in time,” said COVID-19 Nurse Liaison Toni Rebelo. “We got in just under the wire as the state said the very next day they were no longer considering waivers.”
After consulting with medical experts and state health officials, Commissioner of Education Jeffrey C. Riley announced on Wednesday last week that the state would not renew its mask requirement after it expires on Feb. 28, thereby opening the door for school districts to drop mask mandates.
While the waiver gives the high school an extra three days of not living with the mask mandate, the impact on sports is considerably more significant. Last week, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) followed DESE’s lead in dropping the mask mandate as of Feb. 28.
“The MIAA also said that not every community is the same as they may adopt different, more restrictive mask policies,” Superintendent of Schools Kristen Vogel said. “Our athletes may not have to wear them when they play or practice at home starting Wednesday through February vacation, but they may have to when they go to another community and have to wear them. Once again, it’s going to be dependent on what’s going on in that community. At this point, it will really only impact winter tournament play because after that, in the spring, everyone will be outside.”
Masks will continue to be required at Lynnfield Middle School, Summer Street Elementary School and Huckleberry Hill Elementary School until Feb. 28. Those schools were ineligible for waivers with vaccination rates well below 80 percent at 63, 64, and 60 percent, respectively. Eighty-eight percent of all Lynnfield residents are fully vaccinated.
Rebelo said she has heard from a few parents who are concerned about virus spikes as Feb. 28 is the first day of school after February vacation, but “the current positivity rate is so low right now so it’s less concerning to us when considering all the data and science that we have.
“This is the first school break when people will be fully vaccinated so I feel very comfortable coming back after vacation,” she said. “Between the high vaccination rates in the community and the falling rate of positive cases, science and data that DESE considered in its decision to not extend the mask mandate beyond Feb. 28, I feel comfortable.”
Vogel said, as of Friday, she has received only two emails from concerned parents, one asking to delay dropping the mask mandate for an extra week, and the other asking to maintain the current mandate until the end of the school year.
“It was a good week and I just wish people can move on as it’s good for kids and it’s good for teachers,” she said. “Obviously we know that this is going to create some anxiety for some families, just having another change. And we know that for immunocompromised or medically-fragile kids, this is going to be hard.”
Vogel said she plans to send a message to families this week asking them to be respectful of people’s choices.
“If they choose to keep masks on, we need to respect that choice,” she said. “I’m going to ask parents to talk to their children before they come back to school. There are many different reasons why people may wear masks. They respect your choice; you need to respect theirs.”
School Committee Chair Rich Sjoberg said the 80-percent vaccination rate at the high school is a “real credit to the Lynnfield community as a whole.
“I am proud that Kristen immediately went to work to apply for the DESE waiver on behalf of our Lynnfield High School students and staff,” he said.
The committee will also be voting to adopt the state’s Feb. 28 date on Tuesday. The meeting will be held at the Al Merritt Center, 600 Market St., at 6 p.m.