…I think it’s important that when we talk about burden, we capture the burden from the lens of our stakeholders and not just the burdens from our balance sheet.”

School committee member Patrick McCrann

For me, it doesn’t change the algebra, but as was explained here tonight, I’m going (to the Dec. 16 appeal hearing) with an open mind to hear the data because it’s a broader discussion in that setting specific to those three teachers.”

School committee member Dr. Megan Douglas

A Barrington resident recently asked school committee members how many fully-vaccinated teachers in Barrington were currently out of school after testing positive for Covid-19.

The resident, Kiela Daley, then answered her own question. 

She said information she gathered showed that seven fully-vaccinated Barrington school teachers were out this week, impacting at least two dozen students. 

Take our poll: Should vaccinations be mandatory for teachers?

Emails from the Barrington School Department confirm that local teachers have recently tested positive — on Dec. 6, an email from the district stated that a student and a staff member from the high school had tested positive, and an email on Dec. 8 stated a faculty member at Hampden Meadows School had tested positive. 

The information appeared to challenge the district's vaccine mandate, which requires all Barrington school employees to be fully vaccinated.

Ms. Daley told Barrington School Committee members that vaccinated teachers were still contracting Covid-19, and they were still spreading Covid-19. 

The message came during the public comment period of a meeting on Wednesday night, Dec. 8 that focused on the three unvaccinated Barrington teachers who had been placed on unpaid leave and are facing termination on Jan. 1 because they did not follow the district’s vaccine mandate. School committee members spent the bulk of the meeting listening to attorney Jon Anderson discuss how the Dec. 16 appeal hearing will proceed.

Brittany DiOrio, Kerri Thurber and Stephanie Hines are appealing the school committee’s earlier vote to terminate their employment should they not get vaccinated. The teachers requested religious exemptions from the district’s vaccine mandate, but the school committee followed the superintendent’s recommendation to deny the requests, citing an “undue burden” the teachers’ unvaccinated status would place on the school department. 

Barrington School Committee member Patrick McCrann voted against firing the teachers during the pre-termination hearing earlier this fall. Following Wednesday night’s meeting, Mr. McCrann shared some of his thoughts on the issue.

“Across the board, it’s hard to find qualified staff to teach our students,” he said. “…I think it’s important that when we talk about burden, we capture the burden from the lens of our stakeholders and not just the burdens from our balance sheet. That’s the part that I feel is somehow being missed in the calculus right now.”

School committee member Dr. Megan Douglas said she did not have the details about how many Barrington teachers had tested positive recently, and how many students were impacted.

“We don’t get given that detail. That’s all at the superintendent level,” she said. “(T)hese are breakthrough infections. But if you look at the data, it is still very clear that breakthrough infections in people who are vaccinated is much lower than in people who are unvaccinated, and those people get less sick, and they’re less likely to pass infection. 

“It doesn’t really change the algebra. For me, it doesn’t change the algebra, but as was explained here tonight, I’m going (to the Dec. 16 appeal hearing) with an open mind to hear the data because it’s a broader discussion in that setting specific to those three teachers. But in general, the mandate idea still makes complete sense to me. And it does to most public health officials.”

Barrington School Committee Chairwoman Gina Bae said she would like more information about how many teachers have tested positive recently, adding “that’s the first I’m hearing the statistics on this. I’d like to know the circumstances around it.”

Ms. Bae also agreed with Dr. Douglas’s point about the mandate idea.

“There is greater risk for those who are unvaccinated,” she said.

Mr. McCrann said it was important to remember that Barrington students are being impacted either way. 

“That’s the silent part that no one’s talking about, is that our kids are being impacted either way. I’m super empathetic to the position our students are in. I’ve heard from many parents in the community who are devastated… whether it’s their own inability to go to school or with what’s happened at the classroom level. There’s no easy solution.”