Boston residents challenge school committee to wear masks for duration of next meeting

Boston residents are challenging members of the school committee to wear a face mask for the duration of their next virtual meeting in an effort to highlight what students and teachers will soon experience during in-person instruction.

“I don’t think that many adults who have primarily been working from home actually know what it feels like to have a mask on their face for six or more hours at a time, but this is what BPS is asking of thousands of teachers and students,” said Nikki Rivera, parent of two Boston Public Schools elementary students.

Rivera published an online petition on Monday afternoon calling for school committee members to wear a mask during their next virtual meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

School committee meetings can last upwards of five hours and have been held virtually via Zoom since the pandemic hit.

Rivera supports mask-wearing at school, but wants committee members to have the experience of talking and trying to hear others with a mask on for an extended time period.

She said it will allow members to “better understand the experiences of teachers and students, and thus be better informed when doing their jobs.”

According to the BPS reopening plan, everyone is expected to wear a mask while inside a school building and accommodations will be made for younger students or those with sensory or medical issues.

Brandon Halpin, a Jamaica Plain resident and parent of three BPS graduates said he has previously emailed the school committee asking them to wear masks, but didn’t get a direct response to the question.

“They should have a sense of what it’s like to be in a mask for that length of time,” said Halpin.

Halpin said he would be shocked if committee members took on the challenge, “The school committee doesn’t work for us, they work for the mayor.”

When asked if Mayor Martin Walsh supports the mask challenge, the Herald did not receive a response.

High needs BPS students will begin to return to the classroom on Thursday and other students who opted in for hybrid learning will phase in during the weeks following.

“It is not an unreasonable or facetious request to ask that they take one evening to conduct their work in the manner that they will be requiring daily of teachers and students from elementary to high school,” reads the petition.

School committee member Michael O’Neill was seen wearing a mask for about an hour and a half during an Aug. 19 meeting, but didn’t make any comment as to why.

Rivera’s petition had received 32 signatures as of Monday evening.

The Herald emailed all seven school committee members and left a voicemail for Chairman Michael Loconto. The requests for comment were not returned.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3j7BLgG