Swampscott Schools Mask Policy To Be Determined Wednesday Night

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Whether Swampscott Public Schools remain all masked up inside school buildings after the state order expires on Feb. 28 will be determined at next week's School Committee meeting.

Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said the mask order remains in place through at least the next two weeks and that she will spend the next week seeking input from the town health department, school nurses, the occupational health nurse and the school physician before presenting her recommendation to the School Committee on Feb. 16.

Angelakis noted to the Committee on Wednesday night that the district has, to this point, followed all Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recommendations.

On Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker and DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said the mask order for students and staff will not be extended a fourth time because of high vaccination rates across the state, rapidly dropping coronavirus cases and hospitalizations from the winter omicron surge, and out of a desire to return to "the familiar and normal aspects of school life" nearly two years after the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

Starting Feb. 28, individual districts will have the choice to make masks optional or continue to mandate them for indoor spaces.

(Also on Patch: MA's School State Mask Mandate Will Expire Feb. 28)

Under current DESE guidelines that will expire on Feb. 27, schools need to have at least an 80 percent vaccination rate among students and staff to request a state waiver to go mask-optional. Under the new guidelines, all students and staff will have the option to mask regardless of school vaccination rate and individual vaccination status.

"It's no secret that we have known that our high school has met that 80 percent threshold to apply for a waiver," Angelakis said. "But if you recall a few meetings back I was very concerned about the December break, and people going on vacation, and the holiday gatherings.

"I'll say this, once again, that as a district we have maintained through this pandemic by sometimes being overly cautious, and putting in more constraints than necessary."

Angelakis said that as of Feb. 7, the high school student vaccination rate is 84.3 percent, the middle school vaccination rate is 53 percent, the Hadley Elementary School vaccination rate is 65 percent, the Clark Elementary School vaccination rate is 45 percent and the Stanley Elementary School vaccination rate is 49 percent.

(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.)