The Nashua Board of Education continues to hold in-person only meetings without requiring masks in a community where transmission rates of COVID-19 are 6.0%,local hospitals are boarding admitted patients in the ED due to a shortage of hospital beds, and daily cases are back up over 500.

By holding in-person only meetings without requiring attendees to wear masks, the board is effectively depriving some citizens whose children attend school in the Nashua district the opportunity to participate in the ongoing discussions and decisions that impact it.

This policy flies in the face of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as no reasonable modifications are being made for those with underlying health conditions or disabilities that put them at risk of becoming seriously ill if they contract COVID-19.

This effectively discriminates against individuals by putting barriers in their way of participating in the process as well as their right to know what the district is discussing and what actions they’re taking

In addition, I’ve noted that at least one member has been calling in via Zoom to recent meetings while the public is not afforded that same option. A quick search of the New Hampshire Municipal Association website (nhmunicipal.org) provides the following information:

“As public meetings begin taking place . . . it would be prudent to always allow for virtual public access to anticipate that meeting room occupancy might exceed CDC guidelines for social distancing. We would also point out is that it is our reading of RSA 91-A:2, III, together with paragraph 4 of Emergency Order #12, that so long as at least one member of a public body is participating remotely, the rest of the public body could be meeting at a physical location, such as town hall, and you could tell the public they can only participate via online access or by telephone. “

This guidance was provided when the governor’s emergency order was lifted back in June and the positivity rates and levels of community transmission were very low.

Since that time, new daily cases have increased five-fold and the CDC has reversed its mid-summer instructions about indoor masking and social distancing.

It is imperative that the board again allow online attendance for the public and board members to uphold the spirit, if not the letter, of NH’s Right to Know statute and to avoid a potential legal challenge.

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