As kids come back from winter break, more Massachusetts schools are jumping on masking policies to stymie a rise in COVID and flu cases.
Following the announcement of an eight-day masking recommendation from Boston Public Schools last week, Newton, Arlington, Watertown and Northampton all made similar announcements as school started back up this week.
“We do not make this recommendation lightly; in an effort to protect in-person learning and strong service delivery, we feel it is important to issue this recommendation and ask for your participation,” Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Homan wrote in an address to families over the weekend.
Honan cited “very high levels of staff and student absences due to illness” in the week before break.
A state dashboard reported “very high” severity of influenza across Massachusetts indicated in the most recent data.
COVID-19 wastewater data for the Boston region has also seen a large spike since Thanksgiving. Just ahead of Christmas the seven-day average in the south-of-Boston region — including Newton — was up 85% since Thanksgiving, while the north-of-Boston region — including Arlington and Watertown — was up 144%.
None of the districts are mandating mask wearing and will not take any punitive steps against students not wearing masks.
Students and school employees are “asked and expected” to wear masks, Northampton Interim Superintendent Jannell Pearson-Campbell said in an email to parents, echoing BPS’s “expectation” language.
The renewed masking policies have been unsurprisingly polarizing for parents and community members across the state.
“The rise in virus in wastewater now is truly frightening,” BPS parent Cindy Shyr said in a FamCOSa statement on the recommendation. “There is no science or data confirming that ‘expecting’ masking works to get people to actually mask up.”
Other community members took to Twitter to argue illnesses are a “normal” part of school.
Watertown says it will maintain the masking policy until COVID and flu cases drop. Newton, Arlington, Northampton and Boston’s masking policies are scheduled to remain in place until January 13 — so far.
“We will consider whether to extend this recommendation in the second week of January based on absence levels,” Homan wrote.
