WHILE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER continues to resist imposing a statewide mask mandate for Massachusetts schools, new poll results show strong public support for such a measure.
According to a new survey from the MassINC Polling Group, 81 percent of Massachusetts registered voters say they strongly support or somewhat support a policy requiring masks for anyone in a Massachusetts public school this fall.
Support was higher among Democrats than among Republicans or independents, slighter higher among women than men, and greater among older residents. But it was still 69 percent or greater among every demographic subgroup the poll looked at.
“Support for school mask proposals is very high,” said Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group. “And despite what you hear at local meetings, opponents do not represent a large portion of the population.”
Whether to require masks when schools reopen in the coming weeks has become the focus of heated debate, with Baker insisting that it’s a decision best left to local communities, while others are calling on him to issue a statewide order that will spare communities the emotionally charged local fights over masking rules.
After days of pushing back against the suggestion that he order a statewide mandate, Baker said on Wednesday that he expects virtually all unvaccinated K-12 students will wear masks anyway.
“I believe, based on what I’ve heard from our colleagues in local government, that the vast majority, if not all, K-through-six programs in Massachusetts are going to have a mask requirement for their unvaccinated students until such time that the vaccine is available and can be applied to their kids,” Baker said in an appearance on GBH radio. Children under 12 are currently not eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Baker said he expects that “virtually every” K-6 student and unvaccinated student 12 and older will wear a mask in school.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance urging “universal indoor masking” for all students, teachers, staff, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
On Tuesday, the presidents of the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians released a joint statement urging Baker to order mask wearing by anyone going into a Massachusetts school this fall.
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Executive Editor, CommonWealth
About Michael Jonas
Michael Jonas has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in early 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His cover story in CommonWealth's Fall 1999 issue on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
Michael got his start in journalism at the Dorchester Community News, a community newspaper serving Boston's largest neighborhood, where he covered a range of urban issues. Since the late 1980s, he has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe. For 15 years he wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Sunday Globe's City Weekly section.
Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In 1989, he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for "Our Times," a weekly magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston.
Michael lives in Dorchester with his wife and their two daughters.
About Michael Jonas
Michael Jonas has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in early 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His cover story in CommonWealth's Fall 1999 issue on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
Michael got his start in journalism at the Dorchester Community News, a community newspaper serving Boston's largest neighborhood, where he covered a range of urban issues. Since the late 1980s, he has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe. For 15 years he wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Sunday Globe's City Weekly section.
Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In 1989, he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for "Our Times," a weekly magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston.
Michael lives in Dorchester with his wife and their two daughters.
“Masking is a public health measure proven to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, and decreasing transmission is critically important now as data have shown an increase in the number of children and adults who have contracted the easily transmissible Delta variant of the virus,” the doctors said in the statement. “It is imperative that Massachusetts teachers, staff, students, and visitors start this school year with uniform masking requirements to protect them and those with whom they live and interact outside of the academic setting.”
Boston Public Schools have announced that masks will be required in all schools this fall.
The poll results were based on telephone and online responses from 724 registered voters in the state from August 4 to August 13.
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