Danbury Board Of Education Committee Will Delay Mask Decision

DANBURY, CT — The Danbury Board of Education Policy Committee will not be recommending any new policy on mandatory masks in schools this week.

The committee met Wednesday night, and determined it would wait until new guidance from the state Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was provided. That is expected before Feb. 28, but may not be available before the next full Board of Education meeting next week.

Other towns in Southwest Connecticut, including neighboring Ridgefield, Brookfield and Bethel, have already made the decision to make masks optional come the end of February. Committee Chair Joe Da Silva called those decisions premature.

"They have made decisions that are inconsistent with the guidance that is currently outlined by the state Department of Public Health," Da Silva said.

Not everyone on the committee was comfortable waiting. Theresa Buzaid said any decision regarding the masking of children in school "should be up to the parents... this is not our role."

"We have become such a nanny state," Buzaid said.

Da Silva said it was "absolutely" the role of the board of Education to protect children in the schools.

Danbury Health Director Kara Prunty gave a report on the city's latest coronavirus metrics, as provided by the state last week. Danbury had 26.7 average daily cases per 100,000 residents and a positive test rate of 10.8 percent between Jan. 23 and Feb. 5, according to DPH. There were 63 average daily cases per 100,000 residents in the previous two-week reporting period. There are currently four patients with COVID-19 in Danbury Hospital.