HATFIELD — A Board of Health order mandating face coverings be worn in the town’s public school buildings is being met with resistance from other town officials concerned that health officials acted hastily in making its decision.
At the Select Board meeting this week, Select Board Chairwoman Diana Szynal said she objected to the mask requirement adopted by the health board before the Hatfield School Committee had a say, adding that the order is not based on any local COVID-19 health metrics.
“I don’t think instituting this mandate was the thing to do,” Szynal said at Tuesday’s meeting, observing that the town has had three COVID-19 cases in the past 65 days. She called the decision manipulative, and that it usurped the School Committee’s authority and was done to be in line with other area communities.
“It doesn’t matter to me what other jurisdictions are doing,” Szynal said.
Board of Health Chairman Robert Osley said his board didn’t hear any negative comments from the public when the decision was made Aug. 12, and that even with low COVID-19 case counts the spread of the Delta variant is a worry.
“It’s a different virus now,” Osley said.
Making the masking recommendation was about promoting school safety and an important mitigation measure.
“It was overwhelmingly in favor of masking,” Osley said of the feedback the board received. “I think the major concern was safety. Safety for the teachers, safety for the students, safety for the staff.”
Health board member Elizabeth Kugler said having a mask mandate makes sense as a way of protecting children. “I don’t like playing fire with other people’s kids,” Kugler said.
Szynal said the health board could have used discretion, noting that the town has no active cases and a high vaccination rate and that the approach might be to mandate face coverings only if there is an outbreak.
Select Board member Brian Moriarty said that following the science would mean masks are not yet needed because Hatfield is not in a high infection zone. He added that the School Committee should have made the decision.
In fact, School Committee member Danielle Stanisewski told the Select Board that only four members were present at its most recent meeting, Aug. 11, and at that time members heard from parents who want to be able to choose whether their children will wear masks.
She said the community is divided on whether there should be a masking requirement.
“I still think we should strongly recommend them, absolutely, but I don’t think the numbers warrant a mandate,” Stanisewski said.
Over the past 18 months, the health board hadn’t gotten involved in decisions at the schools, which took another resident by surprise.
“I was shocked when they came forth before the school board had even been able to discuss it further,” said Stephanie Moynihan of North Hatfield Road.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
