GILFORD — In response to cluster outbreaks of COVID-19 before Thanksgiving, Gilford schools are requiring masks for all students and adults in fourth, fifth and sixth grade as part of a targeted approach to slowing virus transmission.
The school board is expected to vote Monday at its Dec. 6 meeting on whether that policy should be extended throughout the district, or if a targeted approach should continue, and under what conditions, SAU 73 Superintendent Kirk Beitler said Tuesday.
Beitler returned to full time status as superintendent on October 18, ending a leave of absence that began in mid-August, following charges related to domestic violence that he has denied. He declined to comment further at this time.
Beitler said active COVID cases at the elementary and middle schools have continued to drop since before Thanksgiving, with two currently at Gilford Elementary School, seven in the middle school and five in the high school, according to Dec. 1 and Nov. 30 listings on the district’s COVID dashboard at sau73.org.
He said he plans to give school board members updated information on which to base their evolving policy. “What we saw before Thanksgiving I’d prefer not to repeat,” Beitler said. “I would hope we’d have direction and a way to move forward.”
School board chair Gretchen Gandini said she expects there will be a discussion on protocols when the full board meets Monday. Since its last meeting in early November, 16 emails have been sent to all board members from community members concerned about COVID clusters, and most have favored a universal masking policy in schools since COVID numbers have risen statewide. A majority vote of the five-member board is required to shift policy, Gandini said. She said she can’t predict what will happen Monday.
It’s too early to tell what measures will be put in place this school year with COVID variants rising, and case numbers fluctuating among groups. Parents and educators hope to do what is necessary to continue seamless in-person learning, which was not interrupted in Gilford public schools during COVID. “We’re not prepared to offer remote learning” this year, Beitler said.
Last year, parents and students were given the option to attend classes remotely, but that option is not currently available through the school system. Now, if they want to feel safer, elementary, middle and high school students can take secondary school courses for free through VLAC, the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School, which is available without charge to all New Hampshire students in New Hampshire, Beitler said.
At Monday’s meeting, school board members will review the calendar for next year, receive reports from school principals, and hear Beitler’s presentation related to masks and safety in preparation for acting on any policy changes.
Opinions on the value of masks vary greatly, and area parents are polarized on whether masks should be optional or mandatory.
Heidi Williams, whose third-grade son attends Gilford Elementary, said she is outraged by what she sees as the district’s lack of necessary precautions so far, and believes that responsibility rests on the school board.
Williams favors mandatory masks in elementary school, not just in specific grades, and faults the schools for being lax in seeing that students, such as her son, who is sent to school wearing a mask, actually keep them on.
“When I go to school, he’s not wearing his mask. The bus driver gives him a paper mask to wear. The kids have no masks on and they’re right on top of each other. They’re back in the cafeteria” instead of eating in classrooms, she said.
“We’re slipping so bad with our COVID precautions,” said Williams. “The school nurse knows how to protect children. It’s the school board that’s preventing them. I’d like to see a lot more precautions. In Gilford, we used to be the cutting edge. We used to lead by example.”
The Gilford School Board’s public meeting begins at 6 p.m. Monday in the high school auditorium. The agenda will be posted on the district’s website by Friday, according to district administrators.
(1) comment
I do not see how putting masks on a few students 'clusters' will do much good in the long run? Interesting how last year, when masks were mandatory for ALL....there were not 100plus cases in the 3 schools. Things that make you go hmm.....
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