Gov. Ned Lamont will announce new decision on masks in Connecticut schools ‘very soon,’ but existing requirement is in effect until Sept. 30
Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday the state will be announcing a decision on COVID-19 mask policies in schools “very soon,” to allow staff and families several weeks of planning before students begin to return at the end of August. But if officials do not announce a policy update, a current executive order requiring masks in school buildings statewide will remain in effect until the end of the September.
“Schools, we’ve got to make up our mind what the right rules are there. I’ve put it off ... in part because we didn’t know anything about [the] delta [variant] three weeks ago,” Lamont said during a news conference in the Higganum section of Haddam. “So obviously things change pretty quickly. ... But I do know that people have a right to be able to plan. I’ve always given at least a couple weeks notice.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that children and staff should wear masks in school settings, regardless of vaccination status — reversing guidelines released just a few weeks prior. Lamont and interim education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker acknowledged the CDC’s decision, but maintained that state officials are still in conversations about an appropriate approach, despite ongoing pressure from school districts and parents to make a decision.
“We still have the order in place through Sept. 30 for wearing masks in school buildings. That’s still there, until there’s a change to that,” Russell-Tucker said, adding that districts have received information around other aspects of planning, like physical distancing, cohorting and ventilation systems.
Lamont also shared concerns about parental hesitation in sending kids back to school, especially since children under age 12 remain ineligible for coronavirus vaccinations. Earlier in the summer, the state education department said districts were not required to offer remote learning during the 2021-2022 school year.
“A lot of parents are nervous ... but I want you know we had our schools open last September, overwhelmingly [students] got back to school safely,” he said.
During an earlier news conference Monday in Groton, Lamont added: “The most important thing is making sure our kids can get back to school safely, and I want those kids in-person, in-school. I worry that there’s going to be a lot of these two-week quarantines ... and shutdowns, so that’s our priority, to make sure schools stay open.”
When asked about school mask requirements, Dr. Ulysses Wu, system director for infectious diseases at Hartford HealthCare said: “I know it’s a touchy subject somehow it’s become political, somehow it’s also become a social flashpoint — but the reality is that masking for children in schools probably makes sense if they’re not vaccinated.”
“Let’s take a step back and let’s look at what our lines of defense are. Our first line of defense is vaccinations. That is still our pathway out,” he said. “When vaccinations either stop happening or we think that cases are going to be rising, the next two steps are social distancing and masking. Social distancing is going to be difficult, especially in schools, and so masking I think is going to be the way out of this.”
Keith Grant, Hartford HealthCare’s senior system director of infection prevention, agreed with Wu that social distancing is difficult to achieve in schools, “at this point in time.”
“We do believe that the vaccination process works, it’s effective, it’s efficient and it’s safe. But there are a number of students that still haven’t gotten it, primarily because of aging,” he said. “If that’s not available, then our best line of defense ... is masking and it’s hard not to support that at this point.”
Courant staff writer Eliza Fawcett contributed to this report.
Amanda Blanco can be reached at ablanco@courant.com.
