Massachusetts revises its sweeping mask mandates for schools

Massachusetts revises its sweeping¹ mask mandates² for schools

Transcript³

Masks officially became optional Monday in Massachusetts. NPR's A Martinez speaks to Eric Conti, superintendent⁴ of Burlington Public Schools, about what this week has been like.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

For months, the state of Massachusetts has had its sweeping mask mandates for schools, but this week it allowed communities to lift them. Not every school is ready for that just yet, but Eric Conti, superintendent of the Burlington Public Schools, is now seeing maskless faces in his schools for the first time in a long time. Superintendent, welcome to the show.

ERIC CONTI: Thank you very much. Good morning.

MARTINEZ: Now, your district made the change at the start of the week. What's it like now with those mask mandates lifted?

CONTI: It's really felt like the first day of school. It's been really exciting. And to see kids walking around, see any of our educators who want to be masked or unmasked teaching, it just has felt like a return to normal.

MARTINEZ: One of the things you see, though, when those little faces don't have the masks, you see their noses and if they're runny (laughter) or not. Anybody worried or anybody maybe concerned about what that all might mean?

CONTI: I'm sure there's some concern. There's an adjustment. But we're used to runny noses. It's actually been funny. One of our first-grade teachers commented to me that a lot of students are showing their teachers all the teeth they've lost in the time that they were wearing masks.

MARTINEZ: (Laughter).

CONTI: And one of them even said to her teacher that even without her mask, she looks the same from behind. So I thought that was great.

MARTINEZ: That's true. That is true. What about parents? How have parents adjusted?

CONTI: Well, again, we're mask optional. We're - we didn't - so I think we're asking parents if they want their child to be in a mask that we will honor that, and if they want them maskless, honestly, then they can do that as well. We've spent a lot of time prior to going to mask optional working with our students, especially our younger students, to tell them that their friends may be in a mask, their friends may not be in a mask, and both - everyone is still following the rules and doing what they should.

MARTINEZ: What are some maybe immediate⁵ changes that you have noticed?

CONTI: Well, I think a real positive for me is none of us in the district are public health experts, but we're starting to get back to practices where we have some expertise⁶. So I think the most immediate thing for me was - we had to make a lot of educational compromises, what we know as best practice, in order to implement⁷ protocols⁸ that made our classrooms safer. So what we're seeing now is a return to what we know to be best practice for kids. And again, an example of that might be small-group instruction at the elementary level, having a morning meeting on the carpet to start a class, having the kids, you know, interact more, do more group work, get away from individual desks in rows, get back to what we know works best.

MARTINEZ: Yeah, it's that intimacy⁹ level - right? - that a teacher and a student can have that makes learning a lot more effective.

CONTI: Well, it's - learning doesn't happen without those relationships, so that's what I'd say.

MARTINEZ: And, you know, some Massachusetts school districts chose not to lift mask mandates. What have some of those superintendents¹⁰ shared with you about their decisions?

CONTI: Well, every context is different. So I respect their decisions. Many of them, the school districts, are in communities that have a townwide or a city-based mask requirement for indoors in place until the middle of March. And I think what they are doing is working together with their town government or with their municipality to move away from the mask requirement together. In Burlington, our community did not have a mask requirement for indoors. So the school had the flexibility¹¹ and the opportunity to eliminate the mask requirement and not sort of be out of step with the town government.

MARTINEZ: What's your advice for other superintendents who might be weighing next steps?

CONTI: Don't listen to me. That's always my advice to my colleagues, is...

MARTINEZ: (Laughter).

CONTI: No. We all work together. We're a great collaborative group. And then I know even within their communities, within Burlington, I have great support from our board of health, great support from all of our educators - so really worked through this together. I don't think any of my colleagues - we all have had a crash course in public health, but I think we're just - we - my advice is don't go into this alone. Make sure that you're relying on your colleagues and relying on others. And again, we've had great support from our state, from our Department of Education. Our commissioner¹² in particular has been really out in front on a lot of these issues.

MARTINEZ: We all just listened to you, Eric, for five minutes. Eric Conti is the superintendent of the Burlington Public Schools. Eric, thank you.

CONTI: You got it. Thank you very much.

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

8 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

9 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

10 superintendents   

警长( superintendent的名词复数 )； （大楼的）管理人； 监管人； （美国）警察局长

参考例句：

• Unlike their New York counterparts, Portland school superintendents welcomed McFarlane. 这一次，地点是在波特兰。
• But superintendents and principals have wide discretion. 但是，地方领导和校长有自由裁量权。

11 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

12 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。