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Nashua schools to open with mask mandates for students, faculty, staff inside buildings and buses

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | Aug 11, 2021

Telegraph file photo Board of Education president Heather Raymond answers a question of a fellow member during a recent BOE meeting. (Telegraph file photo)

NASHUA – Board of Education members Monday night chose to follow recommendations of the CDC and other health agencies by voting to require students, teachers and school staff to wear masks inside buildings and on school buses.

The vote followed a public discussion period in which different sides of the issue were aired but, according to BOE president Heather Raymond, everyone “was, for the most part, very respectful.”

In a recent advisory, the CDC recommended that all teachers, staff, students and visitors wear masks while indoors and on buses, regardless of their vaccination status.

So when Nashua’s public schools open on Tuesday, Aug. 31, masks will be required in buildings and on school buses, but won’t be required outside, such as during recess and at sports teams’ practices and games.

While the meeting proceeded in orderly fashion — Raymond said a police officer was present, as has been the case for the past four meetings, but his services weren’t required — things were a bit livelier outside Nashua High School North.

At one point, numerous Nashua and state police cruisers, along with Hillsborough County sheriff’s vans, rolled down Titan Way toward two or three dozen people who had gathered on either side of the road near the school’s main entrance.

Some social media posts indicated people in two groups were hollering at each other, but it didn’t appear that anyone was detained and no arrests were made.

Raymond said board members and meeting attendees were unaware of the police presence until they were told about it later.

As for the vote, Raymond said board members “have done the best we could with the information we had at the time,” but they’re also glad students of all grade levels are no longer split between in-person and remote learning or trying to negotiate the so-called hybrid format.

“We’re very pleased to get kids back in the classroom,” Raymond said. “What we’re doing now is applying what we’ve learned over the past 18 months.”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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