It has been a month and a half since the school district fired three teachers who refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine. 

And now, while news breaks that the Barrington School Committee has changed its approach and is allowing teachers an alternative to getting the booster shot, those three Barrington teachers who were fired are still waiting for their post-termination appeal hearings.

The latest hang-up was the school committee’s unwillingness to hold an in-person hearing, which is what the fired teachers have requested. The school committee would prefer to have a virtual hearing. 

The town is allowing in-person meetings. The state is allowing in-person meetings. The mask mandate has been lifted for businesses and other venues, and on March 4 the statewide mask mandate for schools will be lifted.

It’s time the school committee grant the fired teachers an in-person hearing.