PORTSMOUTH — With Gov. Daniel McKee’s executive order on a statewide indoor mask mandate expiring Feb. 15, school officials say they’re prepared to revisit their COVID-19 policies for students and staff as soon as possible.

UPDATE: School mask mandate to be lifted March 4

The governor and R.I. Department of Health (RIDOH) officials are scheduled to hold a public COVID-19 briefing at 1:30 p.m. today, Feb. 9, in which mask mandates are expected to be addressed. 

“Over the last few days we have heard from some states … that have set deadlines for repealing any executive orders on mask mandates, so the feeling is that Gov. McKee is going to do the same tomorrow,” Superintendent Thomas Kenworthy told the School Committee Tuesday night. 

“I have not heard any other details as far as what that timeline would look like. My recommendation will be that when we know that date for sure, we address it at the next School Committee meeting,” said Kenworthy, who left the door open to “call a special meeting if needed.” (The next regular school board meeting isn’t until Feb. 22.)

School Committee Chairwoman Emily Copeland said the governor could extend the mandate, drop it as of Feb. 16, or allow a “lead-in” period for that districts can be better prepared.

“If the governor says we’re dropping it all at once, at that point we’ll have another emergency School Committee meeting and follow up on (Kenworthy’s) recommendation on a mask mandate and policies, so there wouldn’t be a huge lag,” she said.

Parents speak up

Three parents urged the school board Tuesday to take immediate action if the governor eases the mask mandate. Allyson Harple, of Canonchet Drive, said she wants the district to make masks optional. 

“I have, up to this point, been very supportive of the ways our state in general and especially our school system has been dealing with COVID in keeping open, especially the teachers who have gone above and beyond, but I do think the situation is really different now than it was in the fall, and that everybody has had the opportunity to get vaccinated,” she said. “We really need to make a motion to show our kids that things are going to change because I think it’s really started to wear on them.” 

Her own children typically “fend well,” she said, but they’ve started to have a hard time with the mandates. “I really think most of us are more aligned in our views than we think, and if we can come together for our kids, this would be a good time to do that,” Harple said.

Sofia Sinclair, of Ethel Drive, reiterated remarks she made at the Jan. 19 school board meeting, in which she urged officials to be prepared immediately should the mask mandate be lifted.

“Parents want to know what’s our plan?” Sinclair said, adding that the district should be ready “the second that the mandate drops.”

She also quizzed Kenworthy and committee members on whether students will see some relief on other COVID-19-related policies implemented by the schools.

“Will middle-schoolers get lockers? Will elementary kids get rug time? Will kids eat in the cafeteria again?” she asked, noting that elementary school students have been eating lunch in their classrooms while watching TV, which she said is a “terrible” habit. 

“There are so many things that are not normal right now in schools; it’s not just the masks,” Sinclair said. “I know parents want to know all of this stuff, because our kids are asking us and they deserve answers and they deserve something to look forward to.”

She also asked the committee to do away with distance learning days and allow children to enjoy snow days.

“I told my kids, when they get back from school break and if this hasn’t ended, I think I’m going to pull them from school because we can’t take it anymore. I hope you have answers for us tonight, because the kids are tired,” said Sinclair.

(Winter vacation is the week of Feb. 21, with students returning to classes on Feb. 28.)

Superintendent responds

Kenworthy responded that individual schools, not the district, decide whether students have access to lockers and cafeterias. High school students have been eating in the cafeteria since last year, but the middle and elementary schools have taken a different tack in order to “limit close contact,” he said. Middle school administrators have found there are advantages — not related to COVID — in not using lockers, he added.

The superintendent reminded everyone that any relief from the mask mandate at the state level would not pertain to school buses, which is under a separate federal mandate. The district would need to receive further guidance before it allowed students to remove masks during their rides to and from school, he said.

Cherie Waluk, of Long Meadow Road, urged school leaders to be “advocates” for students. Teachers and school aides have been doing a good job in unprecedented times, she said, but the children are feeling pressure from the adults.

“They’re coming home exhausted by the constant nagging: ‘Keep your mask up. We’re going to follow you into the bathroom if you take your mask off. You’re not allowed to talk without your mask.’ I understand everybody wants to keep these kids safe. How about the social-emotional impacts it’s having on these children and their safety? That to me is No. 1,” Waluk said. “They have been through a ton. They’re not given mask breaks, it’s winter and they can’t go outside. They’re being bogged down by this.”

In addition, Rhode Island has done no assessment or benefit/risk analysis on the impact the mask mandate is having on students, she said.

“Let’s give these kids the best rest of the year we can give them,” she said.

Case numbers

Kenworthy also presented updated numbers of positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff in the district. To date there have been been a total of 635 cases since the opening of the school year. (On Jan. 19, Kenworthy reported a total of 380 cases as of the previous week.) 

These figures, which include the final backlog of case reporting attributed to the holiday break and Omicron surge, break down as follows: 228 at the high school, 121 at the middle school, 169 at Hathaway, and 114 at Melville, he said. The reporting of PK-12 cases is now initiated at the school level before being verified by RIDOH, Kenworthy reminded the committee.