We still don’t know where we’re headed. It’s better to err on the side of caution.”

Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore

Barrington educators are preparing to welcome students back to the start of a new school year. 

In some ways, school will look similar to last year: Students and teachers wearing masks and observing social distancing requirements. 

In other ways, the return to classes this September will offer a shift from the prior year. For starters, all students will be back in the classrooms for “in-person learning”, said Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore said during a recent interview.

“We’re ready to come back full, but with one layer of precaution,” he said. 

The superintendent said all students and teachers, including those who are fully vaccinated, will be required to wear a mask or face covering. He said the district will re-assess safety requirements throughout the year. 

Mr. Messore said masking is an especially important layer of protection in the district’s elementary schools, where hundreds of unvaccinated students will be learning in-person. 

School officials have been closely monitoring the ever-changing landscape of the pandemic. A little more than a month ago, students were finishing up the prior school year, infection rates were decreasing, and vaccination rates were increasing. State officials hinted at the possibility of returning to school un-masked for those who were fully vaccinated.

But by the beginning of August, that message had changed. Rhode Island Department of Education leaders issued a statement on Aug. 4 warning of the Delta variant’s quick spread. 

“RIDE in partnership with Governor (Dan) McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Health, is now strongly recommending that districts implement a policy requiring every person in a school setting to wear a face mask indoors, whether vaccinated or not,” it stated.

Mr. Messore said Barrington school officials were already discussing that possibility prior to Aug. 4. He said the district’s re-entry task force, which was initially saddled with helping plan for the return to learning in the 2020-21 school year, had continued meeting following the end of classes in June. The group, which includes doctors, was regularly monitoring guidance from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Eventually, Barrington chose to follow a cautious approach, Mr. Messore said, referring to the mask requirement inside local schools.

“We still don’t know where we’re headed,” he said. “It’s better to err on the side of caution.”

Mr. Messore said that while masks will be required inside all Barrington schools, there will be opportunities for students to take “mask breaks” — he referenced physical education classes and recess periods. 

Mr. Messore said he would have preferred the state issue a mask mandate for all schools, adding that the inconsistencies from one district to the next could create issues. 

“That’s what’s going to make it difficult,” he said. “You’re going to see some (districts) have more restrictions…”

And some will have less. It was reported last week that some public school districts in Rhode Island, including Johnston, are allowing parents to decide if their children will wear face coverings in class. 

“Inconsistency…hurts the state, in general,” Mr. Messore said. He added that the public school superintendents across Rhode Island have been discussing this issue for weeks.

Other protocols in Barrington schools have changed since last year. Mr. Messore said the cleaning protocols have been altered — no longer will teachers be required to scrub down all chairs and desks in between classes; instead, custodians will conduct through cleanings. The plexiglas dividers that had separated desks in local elementary schools have been removed. The school buses will return to full capacity, although assigned seating and face coverings will be required, and bus windows will remain open at all times. 

The superintendent said the return to full in-person learning is still an important step, as is the move from the six-foot social distancing requirement to the current three-foot distance. 

“That’s allowed for more collaborative learning,” Mr. Messore said. The student collaboration component to education, he said, is crucial. 

“That’s a big piece.” 

Mr. Messore said teachers across the district voiced their concerns last year about the loss of collaborative learning opportunities due to distancing requirements. 

“They felt that part of the learning process was interrupted,” he said. 

Manager’s mandate

The decision to mandate masks for people inside Barrington schools was included as part of the town manager’s most recent executive order. 

Signed on Aug. 5, the order requires all people — vaccinated and unvaccinated alike — to wear a mask or face covering when they are inside any municipal building in Barrington. Municipal buildings inside the town hall, the department of public works headquarters, the public library, and the six public schools.

Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha said the school department had made the decision to mandate masks, he just included it in the order. Mr. Cunha said he speaks regularly with Mr. Messore about a variety of issues. 

“Mr. Messore and I live 50 feet away from each other,” Mr. Cunha said, referring to the location of their offices inside the town hall.

He said the executive order does not apply to private schools in Barrington.

Mr. Cunha said his executive order powers will expire on Sept. 30, when the state’s order expires. He said the council’s ability to grant emergency executive order powers to the manager exists under the state’s executive order.

Mr. Cunha said he is hoping that the recent spike in cases will plateau and then decrease in the near future. He is also hopeful more people will get vaccinated — the manager said recent reports show that 99.1 percent of the recent hospitalizations and deaths that are Covid-related are with people who were unvaccinated. 

“That alone should tell people that getting vaccinated is a good thing,” Mr. Cunha said. 

The town manager said Barrington’s population has one of the highest vaccination rates in the state — on Friday, he said 73.5 percent of the entire population of Barrington was vaccinated, and that 100 percent of Barrington residents 65 and older was vaccinated.