School Districts Must Make an Important Decision: Mask or Not?

With the end of many statewide mask mandates, it’s up to local districts whether they will keep the requirement. Communities anticipate political and emotional fights ahead.

David Fleishman, the superintendent of schools in Newton, Mass., an affluent Boston suburb, said he recently received a message from a parent who pushed for ending mask mandates in classrooms.

But first, he said, the individual felt the need to assure him, “I am not a Trump supporter.”

While Newton, like much of Massachusetts, is mostly liberal and Democratic, Mr. Fleishman said that when it comes to masks, “there’s this tension.”