Naomi Bloom
STAFF WRITER
On the night of March 4, the mask mandate in Andover Public Schools was lifted by the APS School Committee. APS students and staff are no longer required to wear masks in school or at school-sponsored events.
Because of the schools’ high vaccination rates and the steady decrease in COVID-19 cases prior to the mandate being lifted as well as the state mandate being lifted, the committee determined that it would be safe to stop wearing masks in school. Many were excited that the mandate was ending, and the committee’s decision was supported by the majority of the community.
Since then, many people have stopped wearing masks, but there are some who are keeping their masks on. Ohad Mamet, a junior, said that he is planning on wearing a mask until the cases stabilize. “I want to wait a while before I stop wearing it to make sure there are no new outbreaks caused from everyone stopping wearing their masks at once,” he said. This was a common concern since the mandate was lifted just a week after February break, but the cases have not increased too dramatically. In fact, the cases have mostly declined since the break.
AHS junior Diya Ganesh, while a bit worried about the mandate getting lifted, noted that it may not make that big of a difference. “Cases seem to be okay, which is all that really matters,” said Ganesh. “[It’s] not like people were really wearing masks all that well before.” Mamet agreed. “The mandate was helpful initially, but just became useless and annoying when people refused to wear their masks properly,” he said. “Lifting the mandate didn’t really change anything from a safety perspective as most of the people who wore masks properly are still wearing masks and the ones who didn’t aren’t.”
“I think at first a lot of people wanted to keep their masks on, but as time went on, I think people realized that it was unnecessary,” said Freshman Ian Chiang. “It’s comfortable to not have one on… I personally feel safe enough to not wear one myself.” He also said that if COVID cases were to increase, he would start masking again.
Interestingly, an email from AHS principal Caitlin Brown to teachers on March 7 said that because the policy has been changed to mask optional, there is no longer a need for mask breaks. Instead, Brown wrote, “Students in masks can take a break in the classroom as needed.” Junior Riley Cox thought that this didn’t make sense, because it would defeat the purpose of those students wearing masks in the first place. However, there are some teachers who allow masking students or the whole class to take short breaks in the hallway if needed.
A concern of School Committee members was the potential for harassment and division between people who continued to wear their masks and those who chose not to. “Are teachers prepared to address that kind of behavior in their classrooms?” asked Tracy Spruce, a member of the Andover School Committee. “If we’re going to do this, I want to be confident that the level of instability we’ve experienced over this issue is not going to translate into our classrooms.” While this “instability” has not been too common at AHS, some have experienced it. “I’ve faced some from a select group of kids, but most people haven’t said anything,” said Cox. However, Superintendent Dr. Magda Parvey stated that the schools’ general anti-bullying policy will deal with these types of issues.
Additionally, there was a push from parents in the community to lift the mandate. When Andover Patch asked about people’s thoughts on the mandate on Facebook, some had strong opinions. “This is so long overdue,” said user Tim Pitta. “History will never understand why we put our children through this… Shame on our policy makers for not lifting this mandate a long time ago.” Another user, Traci Babcock-Connor, claimed that mask mandates are “child abuse,” and that “[t]he fear and anxiety created are criminal and [there] needs to be accountability.” On the other hand, there were many who felt the decision was made too soon.
Nevertheless, the mask mandate was passed, and the number of cases is continuing to go down. People have been mostly supportive of their peers’ choices. “I am confident that all in the community will be respectful and supportive of an individual’s choice to either wear a mask or not,” said Parvey.
