Students will be required to continue wearing masks in most Massachusetts schools through early 2022, state officials announced Tuesday.
While Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley called masks a simple and effective measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep students in school safely, some parents are demanding that the state end the practice immediately. The mask mandate was extended through at least Jan. 15.
"In anticipation of the vaccine becoming available in the coming weeks for children ages 5 to 11 years old, this extension of the mask requirement will allow time for the elementary school population to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Education Secretary James Peyser.
Anticipated action by two federal agencies, the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, could mean those younger children could begin receiving the Pfizer vaccine as soon as next week.
The state's decision brought cheers and jeers from different quarters.
"It doesn't make sense," said Antigone Grasso of Westwood, a member of the parents group Back To School MA. She says epidemiologists have said that the hospitalization rate for young kids with COVID-19 in New England is so small that the odds are about seven in 10 million.
"What is the goal here? It can't be zero risk. And that's what seems to be the target," Grasso said. "It needs to change."
Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, called the state's approach measured. He said the state is likely considering the large number of districts that still have low vaccination rates in their schools.
"So you know, what's the magic formula is for this?" he said. "Everybody's trying to figure that out. I think the commissioner is ... trying to use the data that he has. I think that superintendents in large part feel comfortable with the steps that are being taken. And, you know, our collective objective here is to try to keep students in school and minimize more disruption."
Then there are local controversies over masking in districts with high vaccination rates among students old enough to be vaccinated.
The state has allowed some schools where 80% or more students are vaccinated to make masks optional. Seven schools were approved as of last week, including high schools in Hopkinton, Ashland, Cohasset and Westborough, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Hopkinton's School Committee narrowly voted to approve a mask-free trial period for students at the high school despite objections from the town's health department director and the 320-member teachers' union.
Becky Abate, president of the Hopkinton Teachers Association, said she was disappointed by the decision, calling it premature when vaccines and boosters are not yet available to all students and staff. Pending federal expansion of vaccine eligibility, state health officials expect 360,000 doses of the pediatric vaccine to arrive here between Oct. 28 and Nov. 5.
She questioned the town's rush to shed masks.
"It is disheartening that the school committee as a whole did not take educators' concerns more seriously and include them in the decision-making process," Abate said in a statement.
Shaun McAuliffe, director of Hopkinton's Board of Health, said he also was concerned about removing the masking requirement too soon. He said the town has seen an increase in COVID cases over the last three weeks — including an instance where an unmasked high school student, who had COVID-19 but was asymptomatic, got together with friends and ended up spreading it into the school and two nearby communities.
GBH News' Stephannie Joseph contributed to this article.
