Sachem School District Considering Hybrid Mask Policy

LAKE RONKONKOMA, NY — The Sachem Central School District is considering a hybrid mask policy for the 2021-22 school year, Schools Superintendent Christopher Pelletieri said.

In his school safety policy update, Pelletieri said that district officials are examining using a hybrid approach, which would require masks in certain scenarios such as in hallways and small group instruction, but not at desks.

"That's something that we are looking at now," he told parents at a board of education meeting on Wednesday, adding that officials still need some more time to work through it.

Pelletieri said that all learning will be conducted in person, with school desks placed three feet instead of six feet apart and district officials will be "careful to minimize quarantining." The district is considering at-home learning for "medically fragile" students with verifiable conditions, he said. The district is also considering live streaming for students in quarantine, according to Pelletieri.

There are some "concerning scenarios" related to quarantining that district officials have run across while updating the school safety plan, Pelletieri said. If all students in a classroom are in masks, only the student who tests positive for COVID-19 would have to quarantine, but if all the students in a class do not wear masks and one tests positive, then everyone in the class would have to quarantine, he explained.

"That's a concern that I want everyone to be aware of," he added.

The updated school safety policy will be placed on the district's website but he warned that staffers will have to flesh it out completely. He expects that there will be a zoom session dedicated to explaining the policy and taking community input. It could be set up as early as Aug. 25.

The idea of masks, even in a hybrid policy, did not sit well with those in attendance.

Former board member Meredith Volpe told the board they should stand up to any mask mandate and recalled Rosa Parks' famous stand fighting for her right to sit in the front of the bus.

"Every child that you mask against their will, you are mentally damaging," she said.

Deborah Kelton questioned if any one of the board would place their pet in a mask all day, noting they likely would not because it's animal abuse.

"Making healthy kids wear a mask is equally abusive," she said. "It's child abuse."

But while nurse Cindy Desimone agreed that masking should be a parent's choice, she said that should be after every child has had the opportunity to be vaccinated.

She said she saw a lot over the pandemic and did not want her children to have to experience the disease and told the board she did not feel comfortable sending her children to school without a mask.

"You don't always get to do what you want to do," she said, adding, "Your children don't want to brush their teeth, but you make them because it is good for them."

Her statement was met with some grumbling from the back of the audience, prompting board president Alex Piccirillo to interrupt.

"It doesn't matter if we agree, we just have to let everybody talk," he said. "Just be respectful and let's move on."

He reminded the audience that the policy is “not set in cement” and district officials will take into account the community's input between emails and the planned zoom forum with Pelletieri.

"That would be the best way to participate so that we can gather as much as possible," he added.