PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee has adopted a new face mask policy

 

At the end of a long meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 26, the committee accepted a "use of face mask" policy that would guide mask use during the upcoming school year.

 

"We need to get this policy on the books because there are staff members starting to come into the buildings," Chairwoman Katherine Yon said. 

 

Pittsfield Public Schools staff were starting to return to school Monday. The majority of students will start the school year remotely on Sept.15 with only some kids allowed in the building. As the year goes on and heath data shows that it is safe to do so, more students will return in a staggered fashion.

 

The district opted to adopt a hybrid a.m./p.m. education model so once students return to school, they will be split into two cohorts. One cohort will be in the buildings in the morning and the other in the afternoon. 

 

Deputy Superintendent Joseph Curtis said the policy is a mixture of Massachusetts Association of School Committees recommendations and input from the district legal counsel. He said the policy subcommittee unanimously recommended it.

 

The policy requires all students and all staff to wear masks. Curtis said some districts have elected to not mandate that their younger students wear masks.

 

This is not the case in Pittsfield. 

 

"We felt through a discussion among ourselves and through negotiations that masks for all would be best," he said.

 

Curtis added that the policy specified that masks must be "manufactured." Students or staff cannot use single-layered neck gators or other improvised masks.

 

"It is not suited to ensure the health and safety of those around the person, and you have seen many makeshift covers so we wanted to ensure the masks were multilayered," he said. "It can't be a single piece of fabric manipulated in a way to have the appearance of multiple layers of fabric."

 

Reusable masks must be made out of multiple layers of fabric and must be washed regularly. If they lose their shape or are somehow compromised they no longer can be used, Curtis said. 

 

Also, Curtis said they copied a few lines directly from the dress code policy to ensure that masks do not have vulgar, racist, sexist, or offensive words, logos, or pictures on them.

 

The School Committee first voted to waive its own policy that would require that the new mask policy goes through a second reading. The policy needed to be expedited because school was scheduled to begin.