By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org
Raymond High School became the first school in the state to return to full remote teaching Thursday and will do so again Friday and possibly next week if the number of COVID-19 cases don’t start going down, according to Interim Superintendent David Deruosi.
On Thursday, the high school had 58 cases of COVID-19 out of 360 students and 30 others being tested, he said.
“This is a unique situation. My high school is experiencing multiple clusters,” Deruosi said, adding there are also four staff members who have tested positive.
While districts around the state continue to debate mask policies and other mitigation measures at school board meetings that sometimes get unruly, state Sen. Tom Sherman, D-Rye, a physician, said without Gov. Chris Sununu’s weekly press conferences updating the numbers with state experts, it’s hard for parents and administrators to get the most up-to-date information.
Sherman proposed having Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette and state epidemiologist Dr. Ben Chan and other state experts hold their own news conference every week to provide the public a statewide view of what’s going on so parents, administrators and school boards will be armed with information to keep their kids safe.
“That would be very helpful,” Sherman said.
The state Department of Health and Human Services’ school dashboard has been slightly updated, but many people have complained to InDepthNH.org that it is still hard to navigate and way out of date. On Thursday, the state school dashboard said Raymond High School had 19 cases of COVID-19, not the 58 reported by the school.
Deruosi said he wants to get a handle on the clusters at Raymond High School and start slowing down the numbers. “My goal is to see it drop,” he said.
“We have to mitigate the spread, get the building closed down and sanitized,” Deruosi said. He has been working collaboratively with the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. The mask mandate went into effect at the high school only late last week.
At Wednesday night’s school board meeting, there was also a vote to mandate masks in the elementary and middle schools.
Deruosi said the school board was unanimously in favor of the changes, but some parents were upset it wasn’t on the school board’s agenda.
Chris McGovern complained on the district’s Facebook page that Wednesday night’s school board meeting didn’t include the changes on the agenda.
“This is only for fear and control. Obviously the board hates children and learning. Funny how this happens without the public knowing because you know there would have been a large number of parents to show up and speak in the opposition of what was clearly determined beforehand,” McGovern said.
School board chairman Joseph Saulnier replied to McGovern on Facebook: “This was not talked about beforehand. I also find your rhetoric on the board hating children appalling. I just love the fact that I spend 20 to 40 hours a week on our schools and many hours away from my own children for these meetings for someone to state that I hate children,” Saulnier said.
Controversies are erupting at district after district with some parents wanting mask mandates and others wanting them eliminated. Sherman believes more factual information from the state experts on a regular basis would be helpful.
Some parents in Moultonborough want a special school meeting to decide some of the policy issues such as mask wearing. Sherman said some people don’t understand that COVID-19 in children can cause serious illness and death as well as long-term side effects and some don’t understand the importance of mitigation efforts. Regular information from the state’s experts would help, he said.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has reportedly noticed that disruptions at school board meetings across the country and asked the FBI to investigate.
Tuesday’s Nashua School Board meeting was closed down early because of disruptions when people in the audience were asked to wear face masks.
