Wiscasset School Committee Tuesday night narrowly passed a reopening plan to have all students at school full time, with them and the staff masked when they are inside and not eating. The plan Superintendent of Schools Terry Wood outlined for the panel and attendees in person and on Zoom calls for mask breaks, and avoidance of quarantines after a positive case if masks and pool testing are in place.

“The benefits (of masking) seem to be outweighing the negatives,” Wood said. Bath, Boothbay region and Regional School Unit 12 are requiring it, “so it’s not like we would be the only one.”

The plan is in place until further notice, Chair Michael Dunn said. He, Jason Putnam and Indriani Demers voted for it; Desiree Bailey and Michelle Blagdon against.

Meeting participants’ views varied, as did feedback ahead of the meeting. Wood said a survey ran 51.7% against requiring masks indoors and 48.3% supporting it, out of 211 respondents. In the meeting, some speakers said Lincoln County’s COVID-19 data does not show a need to require masks and said the decision should be up to parents. Others emphasized safety and noted younger children are not vaccinated.

Parent and volunteer Jodi Hardwick said not agreeing safety in a pandemic is important, would be failing children “before they have stepped into the hallways of their school.” She read from her letter to the department, “I am asking before you vote on this important decision, to ask yourselves do we lean on hope that without taking simple precautions the children without a choice of vaccination will be safe and will not require the critical lifesaving care? Or will we choose the most common sense choice and require that all staff and children wear (a) mask to protect them just in case?”

Grandparent and Wiscasset alumnus Chet Grover said to give parents the choice. Grover described masks as “a muzzle” and said Lincoln County is low in cases, not like in a city or a southern state. And he said, “Lincoln County has had three deaths. Three. Three! ... I hope that the school board will find the courage to follow the science ... Let’s set this straight.” He asked the committee to let children learn “the way that we got to learn ... You guys are the ones that are elected to make these decisions for us.”

“These are kids, let them be kids,” Grover continued. “If folks want to send their kids to school with a mask on, amen. It’s called liberty. We can do what we want to do. Liberty, look that up in the dictionary.”

Bailey said she would be voting based on “the good for all,” as a committee member, not as a parent. 

“I’m not willing to risk one child’s life,” Putnam said at another point. Everyone gets their information from different places, and it’s confusing, he said. “I can only spend so much time researching ... I don’t want anybody’s kid to get sick. If you come to school without a mask, you may be the one who gets it, you may be the one who gives it.”

Dunn said the committee was facing “pretty much an impossible task”: Some people would call it courageous to pass the plan, and others would call it courageous to vote it down. “We’re in a position where we have to do what’s best for the kids.” The committee will respond to changes, but wouldn’t it be better to react to things getting better than getting worse, he asked.

Blagdon said she learned from a state discussion, pool testing is showing success.

Wood said she would like to bring the plan back to the committee in October, “not necessarily to change a vote, but I think a lot of the school districts are starting the school year off and let’s see how things play out.”

School starts Sept. 7.