Barrington School Committee member Patrick McCrann switched seats at last week’s meeting and spoke out during the public comment period. Mr. McCrann spoke about a lack of clarity and transparency on certain issues in the district, including the committee’s vote to mandate vaccinations for all district employees. 

Mr. McCrann said he was not criticizing any particular school official, but believes there is room for improvement. 

He said the policy that included the vaccine mandate was presented in such a manner that the specifics were not clear to him. Mr. McCrann said he had to go back and watch video coverage of the meeting in August where the school committee voted on the policy “because it wasn’t clear to me, at what point in time the school committee had approved mandatory vaccines …”

During the Oct. 21 meeting, Mr. McCrann said that while a member of the committee did read aloud the entire policy, there was no subsequent discussion about policy details, including the mandate. 

“While we didn’t break any rules — we followed the rules to the letter getting this done — but we did it in a way that precluded opportunities for the public to be part of that process,” Mr. McCrann said. “That’s a real shake. Because I think we can do better. I think Barrington expects better. I hope that certainly collectively that can happen.”

After thanking the school committee and other district leaders, Mr. McCrann returned to his seat at the table with other members of the committee.