HODGDON, Maine — The SAD 70 school board shot down a proposal to make masks mandatory during a contentious, 3 1/2-hour meeting Wednesday night.
Masks will remain optional for children and staff inside the buildings at Hodgdon Middle-High and Mill Pond Elementary and on the playground when classes resume for SAD 70 students on Aug. 30.
The move comes despite an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases as the new delta variant is quickly spreading across the country. The impact of the virus was brought home when the meeting began with a moment of silence for board member Cheryl Welton, whose husband Rick died earlier this week from COVID-19.
SAD 70 already has had one student, a member of the Hodgdon boys soccer team, test positive for COVID-19 recently, Superintendent Stephen Fitzpatrick said. That team played its first game of the season Monday, Aug. 16, but is now prevented from playing or practicing until Aug. 27.
“I appreciate the rights of teachers and parents to make decisions around this issue,” Fitzpatrick said, citing that most of Maine is designated as having a high level of community transmission. “The CDC Director [Nirav Shah] recommends, as does the Commissioner of Education [Pender Makin] that we mask up.”
There are several immunocompromised students within the district and Fitzpatrick said he has concerns about their well-being if masks are not required. Masks will be required on all school buses in the district, despite the board vote.
About 64 people attended the Hodgdon meeting in-person, while another 21 joined via Zoom. The majority, including several teachers, implored the school board to not make masks mandatory for their children this fall.
Resident Cole Hyman said he did not feel returning to a mask requirement was in the best interest of the students and encouraged the board to do more research on the ineffectiveness of masks.
“We are being lied to,” he said. “The powers that be do not want us informed. This is no joke.”
Crystal Folsom, a Linneus resident who teaches in the RSU 29 school district, begged the school board to keep masks optional this fall.
“Last year, my daughter came home with no mask breaks,” she said. “These kids cannot suck in their own air 24-7. I have a daughter who is now back on an inhaler because her breathing has weakened. Eventually we have got to let these kids breathe the air that is around them. My daughter can’t go another year wearing a mask.”
Karen Sattler, an employee in the SAD 70 system for 27 years, said last school year was the single most difficult year for her in the district because of the mask requirements.
“When you put a mask on me, my whole being shuts down,” she said. “I can’t smile. There is no escaping it. It has not been scientifically proven [to work] and now you are going to make me do it again? The permanent damage we did last year … please think about what you are doing.”
Several board members vehemently opposed the mask mandate.
“I was elected to represent Linneus and I agree with you guys,” Board member Matt Day said. “I am tired of masks. We’ve gone over a year-and-a-half now. It’s not working. Vaccinated people are still getting [COVID-19] and transmitting it. I don’t understand why we would put the masks back on? You’re harming the kids.”
Fitzpatrick said he understood and respected the board members’ and public’s differing opinion on the matter, but encouraged the board to reconsider.
“I hear you. I struggle with masks myself,” Fitzpatrick said. “But ultimately we have to be cognizant that we are responsible for the health and well-being of our students. Student’s education is best supported by face-to-face instruction. We need to keep our schools open and that is going to be a challenge for us this year.”
Board members Tim Moore and Lynn Tuck voted in favor of the mask requirement, while members Matthew Day, Jared Hand, David Harris, Curtis Harrison, Ed McGillicuddy, Clarissa Porter, Ron Silliboy and David Wells opposed the motion.
“The board’s action of voting down my recommendation of a universal mask mandate in SAD 70 is certainly a reflection of the political debate occurring across the state and our country,” Fitzpatrick said in an email Thursday afternoon. “While I respectfully disagree, I do understand the difficulties and impact of that debate as well as executing mandated masks on students and staff. MSAD 70 has a proud tradition of creating a personalized atmosphere for each of our students and we will continue to deploy all of the COVID 19 mitigating strategies at our disposal.”
He added that the current CDC guideline of “highly recommending” that all students and staff regardless of vaccination status deploy masks while indoors will be encouraged.
Other school districts in The County are rethinking their plans to keep masks optional this fall. The Madawaska School Committee voted Wednesday evening to make masks mandatory, while SAD 33 (Frenchville) held an emergency meeting to reconsider their mask requirement before ultimately deciding to stick with their original plan to require masks.
RSU 29 (Houlton) will hold a special board meeting Monday, Aug. 23, to revisit its optional mask status, while RSU 50 (Southern Aroostook) has already voted to make masks mandatory.
This article has been updated.
