The Easton School Committee will be holding a vote on whether or not they should lift the mask mandate for the towns public school. Governor Baker announced last week that the state’s mask mandate for schools will be lifted starting on February 28th, after schools get back from break. This is on the state level, but each town has the choice on whether or not they will change their policy or keep it. Other towns in the area, such as Mansfield, have already voted to lift the mandate for their schools. We talked to students and teachers to see how they think the committee will vote and how they hope the committee will vote.
Senior Wesley Tower says that he thinks “the committee will pass a law to get rid of masks.” He believes that “the parents will be upset if they do not lift the mask mandate, and in the suburbs, one outweighs the other” When asked how he personally wants the committee to vote he responded with “I am pretty indifferent. I leave in three months, so I do not mind having to wear a piece of fabric on my face.”
Senior Maddy Palm agrees, saying “I don’t think we will get rid of masks because Easton is very involved with keeping students safe, especially from Covid. I want the mask mandate to stay because Covid is still a hazard, and to be honest, I just like wearing them.”
Senior Owen Eldridge is concerned about what lifting the mandate means for student’s safety. He isn’t sure how the committee will vote, he thinks it’s “50/50”. He is concerned about the increased risk of catching Covid if the whole school isn’t wearing masks. “That’s how variants are created” he says.
English teacher Mrs. Tantillo also thinks it could go either way. “I couldn’t tell you, it’s so unpredictable.” She is concerned about coming back from vacation and immediately be unmasked. “They may be more cautious and say ‘lets wait until March'”. She says that she would “be inclined to agree with that kind of decision.” But she also acknowledges that “people who may be living with high risk people” may lean towards keeping the masks on, so as not to “bring home anything.” She thinks that “by two weeks after the break, we should be able to do it”.
Tune in to the meeting tomorrow night at 5 p.m to see what the school committee decides.