Johnston School Committee votes to make masks optional for students

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Distance learning and mask mandates have come to an end in Johnston.

The Johnston School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday night to let parents decide whether to mask their children for school.

And synchronous distance learning for Johnston’s students will no longer be an option.

“People are just getting so tired of this situation,” said School Committee Chairman Bob LaFazia on Wednesday morning. “They feel like their hands are bound. We’re giving them the opportunity to make the decision for their own children.”

LaFazia said the school department, led by Johnston Schools Superintendent Dr. Bernard DiLullo Jr., will monitor reported COVID-19 cases in the schools, and report back to the school committee.

DiLullo clarified the school systems mask guidelines for the scheduled start of the new school year on Sept. 1.

“The school committee strongly suggested mask wearing in schools, but did not come down on the side of mandating them,” DiLullo explained. “This kind of is in line with what the governor and the Department of Health is saying; no one has mandated masks for students. You would think that if it were important enough, the DOH would mandate masks in schools. The committee just followed what the governor has stated.”

DiLullo acknowledged strong feelings on both sides of the student-masking debate.

“I think that there are people on both sides of this issue,” he said. “A lot of people feel it should be left to individual discretion, but I have heard from parents who want masks, who want us to help keep their children safe.”

In the coming weeks, DiLullo said he will be watching public health data closely.

“One of the things we need to do, both our committee and the school district, is keep an eye on what happens over the next few weeks,” DiLullo said.

If the data indicates warning signs, “we will absolutely reconsider where we stand,” DiLullo explained.

“Kids have been through a lot,” LaFazia said. “Parents have been through a lot. We’ve been through a lot.”

LaFazia said he heard from only one side of the debate over children wearing masks in Johnston schools.

“I’ll be honest with you,” LaFazia said. “I didn’t get one call. And the parents I did speak to, they didn’t want the kids wearing masks at schools.”

The school system will still require children to wear masks on school buses, LaFazia said.

“We all spoke on the issue,” LaFazia said. “When we voted on it, it was unanimous. One member was out sick, but he would have voted with us.”

Johnston parent Jennifer Hall told the School Committee that she has “two young children eligible for schools in Johnston this year but I had some concerns regarding masks on children and the safety of it.”

“That wearing a mask for six to seven hours per day is not something we’re comfortable with,” Hall explained. “I’ve done tons of research on the efficacy and safety of masks on kids and feel strongly on where there is risk, there must be a choice.”

One of Hall’s children “has special needs and one of the services he desperately needs is speech therapy,” she said.

“Last year we chose virtual because they wanted him masked for preschool and he’s (not) going to wear one,” Hall said. “While the therapist and special education teachers went above and beyond for us, we all agreed that it’s not the same as in person and I want that for him this year.”

The School Committee was tasked with approving the revised 2021-22 school calendar at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Johnston Town Council held its regularly scheduled meeting at the same time, on the same day, after bumping the board’s regular meeting from Monday due to the state holiday.

Residents of Johnston were forced to choose which meeting they wanted to attend.

Mask mandates were not listed on the School Committee agenda, except during the “speakers” portion, where Hall was scheduled to discuss “masks and school opening.”

Hall stood behind a lectern and addressed the School Committee. She provided the Sun Rise with a summation of her remarks.

“Our other kiddo wants to try school this year but only if she doesn’t have to wear a mask,” Hall told the Sun Rise. “I told her I would attend a school committee meeting and ask the Committee members and the superintendent if it could please be a choice so that the families who want to wear one can and the families who don’t want to can have the option.”

Each school district in the state is having a similar debate, since no statewide mask mandate has been issued.

LaFazia said the School Committee had to step up and tackle the issue, since guidance has not been consistent from state and federal health officials.

“The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH), they’re strongly recommending, but not mandating masks for students,” LaFazia said. “Basically we’re going to leave it up to the parents.”

After the meeting, Hall said she was mostly pleased with the School Committee’s decision.

“I’ve been receiving messages from parents who are very unhappy with me,” she said Tuesday night. “But also on a positive note, parents who are thanking me. They outweigh the people who are unhappy.”

LaFazia praised town-wide efforts to vaccinate educators, and said that 90 percent of school staff has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

“We have a pretty high vaccination rate in the town,” LaFazia said. “We went all out … We have better than 90 percent of our staff vaccinated.”

The Rhode Island DOH has publicly announced that the “Delta variant (B.1.617.2) of the virus that causes COVID-19 is now the dominant variant in Rhode Island.”

“The Delta variant spreads more easily among all people, including younger groups,” according to the Rhode Island DOH. “Vaccination is especially important for everyone 12 years of age and older who are in school communities. For children younger than 12 who are not yet eligible for vaccine, other preventative tools like masks, physical distancing, and testing are critical.”

The department, however, has not instructed schools to make masks mandatory.

“The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) recommends all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, including people who are fully vaccinated, wear a mask indoors,” according to the agency’s web site.

The DOH urges eligible residents to get vaccinated.

“Getting your COVID-19 vaccine is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself and the people around you from the Delta variant,” according to the DOH. “Wearing a mask can help limit or prevent the spread of the Delta variant.”

This latest mutation of the COVID-19 virus has health officials reconsidering past guidance. However, the public has grown weary from the pandemic and social restrictions.

The Delta variant is much more aggressive than other variants we’ve seen because it spreads more easily and quickly and may cause more serious illness,” according to the DOH. “While someone who had one of the other variants of the virus might get 1 or 2 other people sick, someone with the Delta variant could get 6 or 7 other people sick.”

Tightly packed classrooms could pose a unique danger to students, especially those too young for vaccinations.

“Unvaccinated people are most at risk of getting and spreading the Delta variant,” according to the Rhode Island DOH. “The highest spread of cases and most severe outcomes are happening in places with low vaccination rates. If you’re not yet fully vaccinated, getting vaccinated, wearing a mask, and weekly testing are more important than ever to stop the variant from spreading and to protect the progress we’ve made.”

Public information regarding who gets sick and how best to protect yourself has evolved on a daily basis since the start of the pandemic.

“I feel when this pandemic began, we didn’t know a lot about how the virus worked and transmission, etc.,” Hall said. “And lots of careful precautions were made, but now we know children are not known super spreaders of the virus and keeping them masked in my opinion doesn’t make sense.”

Although other states, mostly southern states with low vaccination rates, have reported exponential upticks in hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients, and larger percentages of young people have been getting very sick, life has been struggling to return to normal in the Ocean State.

Bars are open. Surviving restaurants have re-opened. Patrons are packing movie theaters again.

“All summer kids have been in camps and playgrounds, churches and other type of situations without a mask,” Hall said. “Why not school, where they can see others’ faces and emotions and breath normally?”

Hall said she has been talking with other like-minded parents, and has even had discussions with members of organized anti-mask groups protesting mask mandates across the state, and the nation.

“I’ve met so many families across the state who share my view, which is masks being optional and the parents choice,” Hall said. “Tons of school districts across the state have already voted parents’ choice. Some have chosen to mandate masks. Having any school take a stand of ‘masks mandatory or children can’t come to school’ would be wrong and feels discriminatory in my opinion.”

No parents spoke in favor of mask mandates at Tuesday’s meeting. LaFazia said the lack of voices on the mandate-side of the argument helped convince him to vote for parental choice.

“Quite a few parents were there last night, and they told us to leave it up to them,” LaFazia said Wednesday morning. “The problem is, you hear so many things you don’t know what to believe any more.”

Hall hopes her fellow parents respect her feelings on this issue.

“There are plenty of families who want to remain vigilant and cautious with kids in schools and I respect their right to choose masks for their children,” Hall said. “I ask they respect our choice as well.”

The Cranston and Warwick school committees may vote on mask mandates for students at their meetings, Monday and Thursday, respectively, next week.

In the meantime, school officials will be watching data following a planned church feast in Johnston and some other large community gatherings.

“If the numbers spike, now I don’t have a cutoff number, but if those numbers increase drastically in Johnston,” DiLullo said. “The health department does report by community. If we need to reconvene the school committee prior to school opening, we will absolutely do that.”

The School Committee also voted unanimously to accept DiLullo’s school opening plan and calendar.

The meeting agenda announced: “The new first day of school will be Sept. 1, 2021, and the last day of school will be scheduled for June 15, 2022, and all students are expected to attend in-person.”

Last year’s at-home learning options will not be available this school year in Johnston.

“Obviously if there’s extenuating circumstances, we will make accommodations for those students,” DiLullo said. “But the option will not necessarily be sitting in front of a computer all day. We will offer support for those students; distance learning offered by another institution, or in another way, but it won’t be the synchronous learning that occurred last year.”

Last year’s hybrid approach to public school education worked well for some, but not others.

“It was a challenge for kids and a challenge for parents,” DiLullo said. “Some kids did very well in it; other kids struggled … Our plan is to have all students back in the classroom; we firmly believe that’s the best option.”

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