{"id":1285087,"date":"2022-02-09T07:13:47","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T12:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1285087"},"modified":"2022-02-09T12:22:46","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T17:22:46","slug":"massachusetts-dropping-statewide-k-12-mask-mandate-on-february-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-dropping-statewide-k-12-mask-mandate-on-february-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Dropping Statewide K-12 Mask Mandate On February 28"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmassachusetts-dropping-statewide-k-12-mask-mandate-on-february-28%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1285087&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/988CE1C7-A85F-4E24-89A7-318D13208BAE-scaled-e1644013703575-1.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Authorities in Massachusetts announced on Wednesday that that the Bay State will be dropping its mask mandate for students in K-12 public education starting February 28. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley. While the statewide mandate is lifted, local districts will still be allowed to require masking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Massachusetts a national leader in vaccinating kids, combined with our robust testing programs, it is time to lift the mask mandate in schools and give students and staff a sense of normalcy after dealing with enormous challenges over the past two years,\u201d Governor Charlie Baker (R) <a href=\"https:\/\/boston.cbslocal.com\/2022\/02\/09\/mask-mandate-massachusetts-schools-ends-february-28-governor-charlie-baker-announcement-dese\/\">said Wednesday at a press conference<\/a>. \u201cWe have all the tools to keep schools safe as we move into dealing with the next phase of managing COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the low extremely low risk for young people, the widespread availability and the proven effectiveness of vaccines and the distribution of accurate test protocols and tests, it is time to give our kids a sense of normalcy and lift the mask mandate on a statewide basis for schools,\u201d Baker added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason we are taking the mask mandate off is we do believe between our testing infrastructure, our vaccination programs, our data and the guidance we\u2019ve gotten from a lot of people we\u2019ve talked to in the public health community is there is a consequence at this point for keeping kids in masks, and we think we should move beyond that,\u201d Baker added.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the governor\u2019s statement, Boston radio legend and political commentator Gerry Callahan blasted the Republican governor for masking&nbsp; children during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was NEVER a time to force our kids into masks and he knows it,\u201d Callahan tweeted. \u201cAs always, he bent to the political whims of the moment and just hoped Linda Pizzuti would blow him a kiss. He is the definition of political cowardice.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There was NEVER a time to force our kids into masks and he knows it. As always, he bent to the political whims of the moment and just hoped Linda Pizzuti would blow him a kiss. He is the definition of political cowardice. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rtorwCIrDs\">https:\/\/t.co\/rtorwCIrDs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Gerry Callahan (@GerryCallahan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GerryCallahan\/status\/1491438144948158465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Callahan also wondered why kids couldn\u2019t ditch the face-coverings right now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid anyone ask @MassGovernor why kids have to continue to wear masks for three more weeks? Why Feb 28 and not right friggin now? As always I\u2019m sure there\u2019s lots of science behind his decision,\u201d the host of The Gerry Callahan podcast added.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Did anyone ask <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MassGovernor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MassGovernor<\/a> why kids have to continue to wear masks for three more weeks? Why Feb 28 and not right friggin now? As always I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;s lots of science behind his decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Gerry Callahan (@GerryCallahan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GerryCallahan\/status\/1491441403926552578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The announcement Wednesday is just the latest shift in governance and health guidance from the liberal Northeast state.<\/p>\n<p>In late January, Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders and Education Secretary James Peyser also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcboston.com\/news\/local\/cabinet-chiefs-urge-colleges-to-pull-back-covid-protocols-lead-mass-into-an-endemic\/2629573\/\">penned a letter<\/a> to universities in the Commonwealth, saying that the pandemic is now \u201cendemic\u201d and cannot be exacerbated by the \u201ctwindemic\u201d of isolation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEarly in the pandemic, we made trade-offs, and veered on the side of remote learning and isolation. Overly strict protocols that inhibit any level of social interaction are counterproductive, at this time. Now is the time to reconsider these protocols to help promote a return to healthy social interactions, including: remote learning; restricting or discouraging group activities; overly aggressive surveillance testing; and mask type requirements,\u201d the secretaries&nbsp;wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cColleges and universities should accelerate their efforts to transition back to \u2018near normal\u2019 conditions, which include focusing on individuals who manifest COVID symptoms and test positive for COVID, and especially those who are particularly at-risk for serious illness and hospitalization,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authorities in Massachusetts announced on Wednesday that that the Bay State will be dropping its mask mandate for students in K-12 public education starting February 28. Department of Elementary and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1285087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1285087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1285087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1285087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1285087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}