Norwich — Board of Education members heard mixed opinions from parents and teachers during a special online meeting before voting along party lines to extend the in-school mask mandate through March 18.

Board member Mark Kulos, a Democrat, suggested that because the federal mask mandate remains for school buses at least through Friday, March 18, the school mask mandate be extended to that date. The board voted 5-3 in favor of his proposal. Students and staff returning to school the following Monday, March 21, will not be required to wear masks.

“In that three weeks, the weather will get better,” Kulos said, “and hopefully teachers will be able to open the windows and let fresh air in. Fresh air is the enemy of COVID.”

Along with Kulos, Democrats Chairman Robert Aldi and members Kevin Saythany, Greg Perry and Carline Charmelus voted in favor of the extended mask mandate.

Republicans Heather Fowler, Joshua Chapman and Christine DiStasio voted against the extension. Republican board member Aaron “Al” Daniels did not attend the meeting.

Fowler called it “a slap in the face” of Norwich parents, noting that eight of the 11 municipalities in the Uncas Health District already have decided to drop the mask mandate after the state mandate ends Feb. 28.

Separately Thursday evening, Norwich Free Academy Head of School Brian Kelly announced that NFA will lift its mask mandate and allow masks to be optional for staff and students beginning March 1.

“After careful consideration of a variety of factors, including the declining number of daily cases in the region, guidelines from the state and feedback from faculty, staff, students and parents, Norwich Free Academy will be mask-optional beginning March 1, 2022,” Kelly wrote in a letter sent to staff and parents.

Public school Superintendent Kristen Stringfellow said coronavirus numbers have dropped dramatically in recent weeks with the rapid drop in the December surge of the omicron variant of the virus. She said since early January, weekly COVID-19 numbers went from 138 to 172 to 100 to 18 and then six and this week just four cases. She said recently, most cases are self-reported based on at-home self-testing.

With more than 130 participants in the online Zoom meeting, and the board’s policy of allowing 30 minutes for public comment, Chairman Robert Aldi asked that five speakers on each side address the board.

Teachers Mikayla DiStasio and Beth Belliveau told the board they don’t like wearing masks, but asked the board to continue the mask mandate.

“Of course, I do not want to wear a mask,” DiStasio said. “But I believe in the science a little longer.”

She said her favorite comment from a student this year was: “I would rather wear a mask than be away from you any longer,” DisStasio quoted the student. “Our kids are resilient. The true trauma was remote learning.”

But parents who are in favor of lifting the mask mandate say it's time to do so. Some speakers stressed that no one is calling for a ban on wearing masks, they just wanted the school district to make mask-wearing optional.

Parent Jess Quay called it “despicable” that the board held Thursday’s meeting online rather than in person and limited comments to five on each side of the issue.

“I think it’s time to move past this,” she said. “I think it’s time to move on.”

Quay said she did think masks work, but some people contracted the coronavirus regardless of wearing masks.

Parent Elliot Omo-Edo asked the board to keep the mask mandate for “a little bit” longer, about a couple of months, because there are still infections. He said just because the numbers are going down, “doesn’t mean we should throw all caution to the wind.”

Parent Ashleigh Packard said if the board voted to continue the mandate, it should provide specific medical evidence that masks work. She said her husband works at Mohegan Sun Casino, and employees there have gotten COVID-19 even though they were wearing masks.

Parent Matthew Kalinowski said he is “strongly against” the mask mandate. He said his daughter, who is in kindergarten, has a speech difficulty made worse by the requirement to wear masks all day.

He said children do not wear masks properly, do not change soiled masks frequently enough, and many children are wearing cloth masks “that don’t do anything.”

c.bessette@theday.com