Salem School Committee - Once Again - Takes Up Mask Debate Monday

SALEM, MA — Salem Superintendent Steve Zrike said he is "hopeful we are on a good path" in COVID-19 case trends ahead of Monday's School Committee meeting where further debate and a vote is anticipated on whether to make masks optional in school buildings.

A health advisory board is set to meet this week and provide a recommendation to the School Committee on whether to lift the mask order it put in place last August. The statewide mandate was allowed to expire on Feb. 28 with most North Shore districts going mask-optional at that time.

The Salem School Committee has already met twice in the past two weeks to discuss the parameters for possibly lifting the district order with a third meeting scheduled for Monday night at 7.

"We're hopeful that we're on a good path," Zrike said during his weekly Facebook Live session with the school community. "It appears we are on a good path in Salem. Yeah, we'd love to see vaccine rates go up. We'd love to see more students in weekly testing.

"But it does seem like, so far, case counts have been trending in the right direction both in the community and in the district."

(MORE ON PATCH: Salem Schools Mask Vote Put On Hold, Except For Basketball, Arts)

While Salem Mayor and School Committee Chair Kim Driscoll said several times during this past Monday's two-hour mask discussion that the metrics did appear encouraging for "going mask-optional in mid-March" other Committee members expressed hesitancy based on vaccine access and uptake equity and community transmission that was still substantial, albeit dramatically off the peaks of the omicron surge in January.

The state Department of Health on Wednesday said the seven-day positive test rate statewide was down to 1.88 percent after reaching a high of 23.5 percent in early January. There were 408 COVID-related hospitalizations across the state, down from more than 3,200 in January.

Zrike said if the School Committee does decide to lift the mask order, there will be guidance and discussions on the change and support for those who choose to continue to mask up in schools.

"We want to be making sure that if we do go mask-optional — whenever that date is — that anybody should feel comfortable wearing a mask or not wearing a mask," Zrike said. "Everybody had individual needs and individual health concerns and we need to respect every family decision around masks."

Zrike also thanked those who provided public comment on the masking issue for their decorum and thoughtfulness on what has been a decisive issue in many communities.

"There's a lot of passion," Zrike said. "But the passion was modeled well for our young people in how to debate about a challenging topic."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)