Locals weigh school mask rules as statewide mandates end

Responsibility for school mask mandates is shifting back to local leaders, who are caught in the middle of one of the most divisive issues of the pandemic

As some of the last statewide school mask mandates near an end, responsibility is shifting back to local leaders, who are caught in the middle of one of the most divisive issues of the pandemic.

In the hours after Connecticut's governor announced its mandate would end later this month, the school superintendent in Cheshire was peppered Monday with messages from families who feel masks are critical for protecting students and others who have long been opposed.

“Unfortunately, this is an issue where you are not going to make everybody happy,” Superintendent Jeffrey Solan said. “We can't allow those individual passions to decide the debate.”

If the decision had to be made right away, Solan said, his district in New Haven's suburbs would not be mask-optional, based on metrics developed with local health officials, including vaccination and infection rates.