Monday’s Board of Health meeting will be held at the Abington Middle/High School Auditorium.
In-person meetings of the committee typically take place in one of the Town Hall meeting rooms, most often the second floor Buckley Room.
However, with attendance at the board’s meetings, growing and the larger Cotter Room booked Monday night, Board Chairman Aaron Christian said he best fit was the spacious auditorium.
“The Cotter Room was full and the only space available with enough room to fit the amount of visitors we had last time that we got was the High School,” Christian said.
Masks are currently required by the state in all school buildings, even when classes are not in session. Masks are not currently required in town halls, libraries, or senior centers.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. The agenda includes an update on COVID-19 and vaccination efforts, and discussions on a flu clinic and illegal dumping. The agenda does not include a section for public comment.
The board said in a comment posted on Facebook that: “This meeting will not have a section for public input. The agenda items are intended to be informational for the public. Any questions or comments can however be sent to Board members of the Health Department. We will try [our] best to address these concerns during our meeting.”
Board members Christina Fifer and Kevin Whalen said they didn’t have any objections to the venue change.
“[No] concerns on my side at this time,” said Christina Fifer. “We had a larger group of people at our last [Board of Health] meeting and the HS space is certainly bigger if the resident attendance continues to increase, which would be a good thing to have more community participation.”
Board member Melissa Pond declined to comment.
State Education Commissioner Jeff Riley in August issued a mandate requiring students, staff, and visitors to wear masks while in school buildings until Nov. 1. Starting Oct. 15, school buildings can petition to drop the requirement if at least 80 percent of the staff and students in the building are vaccinated.