Weston School Committee holds masks in place as testing rate trails 65 percent target

WESTON — December 6, 2021 — Weston high school stays masked as district falls short of self-imposed testing threshold. Superintendent Mitch Connolly told the School Committee Monday the high school logged 13 active COVID cases — above the 10-case threshold — and 43 percent testing participation, short of the 65 percent target, even as student sign-ups jumped to 90 percent in roughly four days after student leaders linked the metric to mask-optional status. Six parents and an epidemiologist, Dr. Kathleen Mortimer, urged immediate unmasking; Mortimer called the threshold approach "holding unmasking hostage" to "arbitrary testing rates." The committee unanimously approved the 2022-23 calendar, appointed Alex Cobb to the Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee, and approved a $1,979,892.94 warrant. An Eversource-funded LED retrofit beginning next week is projected to save $70,000 annually across four schools.