Maldden alld a Vol. 31, No. 6 den AADD -FREEHappy Valentine's Day to all our readers! CTE OCAT AT www.advocatenews.net Next big decision for Malden school officials: ‘Masks...or no masks’ Gov. Baker announces lifting of mask mandate in Massachusetts public schools; local cities and towns may set own policies M Published Every Friday 617-387-2200 By Steve Freker any in Malden and wherever his legions of former players and students are now are mourning this week the sudden loss of former longtime Malden High School Varsity Head Football Coach Paul Finn. Coach Finn passed away unexpectedly last Saturday. He was 74 years-old. He would have been 75 in less than a month, on March 5. Coach Finn was a member of one of the most well-known Malden families in city history, several of whom were major contributors in the fi elds of athletics and education. MASKS OR NO MASKS: Gov. Charlie Baker ordered the mask mandate in Massachusetts’ public schools to be lifted on February 28, but it will still be up to individual school districts if they choose to continue them or lift them in their own city or town. (Courtesy Photo) By Steve Freker M alden school offi cials will be facing a big decision soon, due to a major announcement on Tuesday by Gov. Charlie Baker. Gov. Baker held a press conference where he announced state offi cials are phasing out the mask mandates for students and staff in Massachusetts public schools as of Monday, February 28. This means that as of Feb. 28, no one in the schools will be required to wear a protective mask as per previous COVID-19 protocols. Students and staff have been required to wear masks under state mandates since the declaration of the pandemic in March 2020. Gov. Baker said, given the increasing availability of vaccines, antiviral treatments and rapid tests, “It’s time to give our kids a sense of normalcy and lift the mask mandate on a statewide basis for schools.” Still, it will up to individual school districts to make their own decisions over whether wearing masks in their school buildings will – or will not – be continued. Students and staff will be allowed to continue to wear masks at their own personal discretion, regardless of what local districts decide. In Malden, it is expected city and school offi cials, including Mayor Gary Christenson, who is also chairperson of the Malden School Committee, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ligia Noriega-Murphy, Health Department Director Chris Webb, members of the Malden School Committee and others will convene before that Feb. 28 edict date and decide which course will be pursued. The citywide mask mandate in Malden for indoor establishments was ordered to be lifted last week by Mayor Christenson, in a related decision. In Malden and in most other cities and towns across the state, numbers of positive COVID-19 cases have plummeted steadily for the past several weeks, citywide and in the school district. In recent weeks, the number of cases reported in the 6,300-plus MASKS | SEE PAGE 1 Former varsity football coach Paul Finn passed away on Saturday, February 5. (Courtesy Photo) He was the longest-serving Malden High School head football coach of the modern era, E Friday, Fabruary 11, 2022 Malden mourns passing of longtime, 26-year former varsity football coach Paul Finn Served more than 30 years as a teacher and administrator in Malden Public Schools leading the Golden Tornado program for 26 seasons (19731998) and served as a teacher and administrator for over 30 years, from 1973 until his retirement in 2006. Coach Finn was born and raised in Malden, was a star student-athlete at both Malden High School (Class of 1965) and Amherst College, and then became the youngest head coach, in any sport, at the time, when he took over the reins of the MHS Football program at age 25 in 1973. Most recently, he had lived many years in Melrose, at the COACH | SEE PAGE 8 Mystic Valley Eagles Boys Swim Team Crowned Champions Mystic Valley Varsity Swimming Team, pictured from left to right: Bottom row: George George, Jason Yan, Eric Loue and Ramy Elaafer; middle row: Adrian Chang, Dylan Phan, Khloe Co, Christian Antonucci, Crystal Tang, Kevin Sodeyama-Cardoso, Deanna Guo, Miriam Johannes, Daniel Nguyen, Bryan Li, Thomas Sodeyama-Cardoso and Asst. Coach Kari Miller; back row: Head Coach Andrew DiGiacomo, Jaden Anthony, Britney Nayiga, Aris Catic, Isabella Cirame, Jeremy Chang, Isabelle Penacchio, Minh Tran, Armando Indresano, Lana Santos-Albuquerque, Aiden Acuna-Rosa, Makda Johannes, Matthew Loue and Rupa Raj. See story on page 14. (Advocate fi le photo)
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