Mask Breaks and Lunches
From the Desk of Mr. McElhinney
Mask Break will not be eliminated
Good Morning,
I hope this message finds you well as you try to sift through the "changes" that" seem to come our way on a daily basis regarding Covid. I believe you have all received a message from the Superintendent at this point regarding buses, school buildings, and masks, but I wanted to follow that message with a direct message from your child's school to dispel any rumors or misinformation. MASK BREAKS WILL CONTINUE AT THE STONY BROOK SCHOOL. After receiving some clarifying info during the school committee meeting Monday and after several questions from students to their teachers about masks on buses, I sent an email to staff early yesterday to clarify how we will proceed with these changes. (see below)
Good Morning,
You may be hearing from your students that masks were optional today on the buses. They would be correct with that information, as the mandate for masks on school buses was lifted as of Saturday 25th.
"Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask-wearing in K-12 schools and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level. School systems at their discretion may choose to require that people wear masks on buses or vans."
We will continue to require masks to be worn in school for the remainder of the week, per the school committee's ruling to extend the mask mandate. As of Monday, March 7th, masks will be optional for all students and staff.
As an aside; First, we going to continue to use the cafe and gymnasium as the cafeteria venues until further notice. As the weather begins to change for the better, we will reassess our eating arrangements. Secondly, mask breaks may continue as has been the custom. We will still have students who choose to wear masks, so this will continue to support their health and well-being. Further, I believe, we have seen the benefit of movement and fresh air for our students and ourselves. We can discuss the future of these breaks and what they can look like as we move further from this pandemic. Truly, I feel you are able to "break" as you feel necessary, individually, and not as a corporate activity/moment scheduled, but we can look at this down the road.
This is the latest information I have. I will continue to update you as I have info to share.
We will continue to support all of our learners through these difficult times.
Preparing for the next change,
Mr. Mac