February 10, 2022
Dear Shrewsbury Families, Colleagues, & Community Members,
Most of you have likely seen the news from yesterday regarding Governor Baker's and Commissioner Riley's decision to lift the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education's (DESE) statewide mask requirement effective February 28 (found here).
Our school district is currently subject to four separate mask mandates: 1) The DESE statewide mandate (which will now expire on February 28); 2) the townwide public mask mandate instituted by the Shrewsbury Board of Health, which applies to all schools in Shrewsbury; 3) the district mask mandate instituted by the School Committee prior to the start of the school year; and 4) the federal Department of Transportation mask mandate that applies to all persons riding school buses.
The Shrewsbury Board of Health is expected to address this topic at their next meeting on Friday, February 18, and the School Committee will address it at their next meeting on Wednesday, February 16. I will communicate additional information to you as it becomes available. In the meantime, all four of these mask mandates remain in effect in our schools and on our school buses.
Please remember that the district's weekly COVID-19 statistics dashboard is available here and information regarding the district's COVID-19 testing program (weekly PCR surveillance testing, weekly rapid surveillance testing, and symptomatic testing) is available here.
Respectfully,
Joe Sawyer
Superintendent of Schools