This back-to-school season, virus protocols in spotlight
New Britain students will get periodic “mask breaks” outdoors, even in the middle of winter, and will be required to maintain a 3-foot distance in classes and on the bus, educators told parents in an online presentation this week.
“I think I’ve said this 100 times, but it’s worth repeating: Face masks are required for all staff, students and all visitors while in the school,” New Britain superintendent Nancy Sarra said.
During a season when school administrators are normally reminding parents about attendance and homework policies, this year they’re emphasizing COVID19 precautions and rules.
The state’s controversial mask mandate is at the top of the list, but principals and superintendents around the state are also using the last days of August to tell families about COVID-19 vaccination policies, quarantine rules and more.
Newington is among the school systems that have distributed detailed policies covering a range of situations.
In regular classes, for instance, masks are mandatory for students, but teachers may remove theirs briefly if they’re at least 6 feet away from students. After-school programs and clubs can remove masks outdoors if they maintain distancing, and students in indoor music classes can go without masks if they’re at least 12 feet apart.
Madison is allowing students mask breaks “at the teacher’s instruction, ideally when students are outdoors or with a protective barrier in place.”
Danbury schools specify that masks are required when walking in or out of cafeterias or when getting food and drinks.
“They may be removed at appropriately socially distanced tables in order to eat but must be replaced after eating. A recess period may be used as a break from wearing masks and social distancing requirements are maintained to the greatest degree possible,” according to Danbury’s policies handbook.
During the Youtube presentation in New Britain, a parent asked how mask breaks can be done in the winter. Sarra replied that teachers ensure that children are dressed warmly and then take them outside for brief mask breaks even in January and February, except in cases of extreme cold or a storm.
Masks aren’t problematic just in cold weather. Windham schools started classes on Thursday and immediately ran into a problem exacerbated by masks due to the hot weather.
“The meteorologist has let us know that the highest heat index will be reached today,” Windham superintendent Tracy Youngberg said in an announcement that classes would be dismissed early. “In addition, the mandated use of masks in our schools makes the heat even more unbearable.”
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s directive for everyone inside schools to wear masks isn’t something that local educators can change or modify, administrators across the state emphasize. Lamont’s staff has consistently said the decision is in the best interest of keeping students healthy.
“The face masks in concert with all the other mitigation strategies are what keeps the virus away from our kids,” Sarra told parents.
While some parents in the Unmask Our Kids CT campaign insist that mandatory masks aren’t effective, that’s not the case, said
Prof. Douglas Brugge, chairman of the public health sciences department at Uconn Health.
“Masks are valuable — they should be included in the plan, but they’re only one element,” said Brugge, whose credentials include a Harvard degree in industrial hygiene.
Brugge acknowledged the “mask fatigue” that some parents are complaining about but said the rules are still essential.
“My own experience is that it’s not fun to wear a mask for a long period of time. I imagine as a child it may be harder than for adults,” he said.
“But this (pandemic) is a much more extreme situation of that kind than anything in my lifetime. We have to avail ourselves of all the strategies and tools to get this thing under control and get past it,” Brugge said. “Wearing masks is part of the equation.”