Ever since Lincoln-Sudbury students returned to school fully in person in September, it has been mandated that students wear a mask at all times. Lifting the mask mandate has been consistently pushed off since the beginning of the year; new variants have made it unsafe for schools to make masks optional. With the Omicron variant dying out, the Sudbury Board of Health met on February 8th to discuss lifting that mask mandate. Bill Murphy, the director, voiced his opinion right off the bat, saying “I would propose to the board, to transition from a mandate to an advisory.” Other board members also shared their thoughts on this proposal and the mask mandate itself. Board member Susan Sama recognized the ever-changing variants and the varying risks throughout ages. Sama recognized that masking definitely helps stop the spread of the virus, “but I feel like at a certain point we do have to move towards relaxing standards.” Conclusively, Sama voted in favor of changing the mandate to a recommendation. Other members, Linda Huet-Clayton and Carol Bradford, expressed their concern about lifting the mandate, but also the benefits. Huet-Clayton conveyed she felt that lifting the mandate is “a very rational decision.” By the end of the discussion, all the board members voted in favor of removing the mask mandate and changing it to a recommendation. This will apply to all public spaces in Sudbury, including schools. 

This mandate was not lifted right away because of school vacation week. The reasoning behind this was to make sure any cases caught throughout break are contained. Even though it is not required to wear a mask, “We are still encouraging people to wear masks in public spaces,” Bradford revealed. There are a lot of risks that come with removing this mandate, and Sudbury wants everyone to be as safe as possible. There are still children under the age of 5 that cannot be vaccinated yet, and the elderly are at a high risk. Murphy reminded the public “that there are immunocompromised people out there.” Lincoln Sudbury will go mask optional starting Monday, March 7th. It is entirely up to the individual and their families to decide if they want to wear a mask or not. Teachers and staff have been told that they are not allowed to influence anyone’s decision about whether or not to mask.