22 October, 2021
On Thursday evening, October 21, 2021, the Hopkinton School Committee voted 3-2 to lift the mask mandate for a three week trial period at Hopkinton High School. Hopkinton High School received the “off-ramping” waiver from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on October 7, 2021.
The three-week lifting of the mask mandate begins on Monday, November 1, 2021 and ends on Friday, November 19, 2021. Students will resume wearing masks on Monday, November 22, 2021, prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.
During the period following the three-week hiatus, the District will be assessing data, including answering questions such as: Was there a rise in absenteeism during this period because greater numbers of students had COVID-19 symptoms (but not COVID-19) and had to stay home? Was there an increase in COVID-19 cases or did our case counts remain relatively stable?
The Committee also voted to be able either to hold an emergency meeting or to allow the superintendent to restore mask-wearing at any time during the three-week period, in the event of a spike in cases.
