Gov. Tom Wolf announced on Aug. 31 that masks mandates will be required in all Pennsylvania public and private schools, as well as child care facilities.
Less than a month ago, Wolf had ruled out a statewide mask mandate for schools after requiring them last year. But the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus has rightly changed the administration’s view about what is needed to keep students in class.
The governor’s decision is in the best interest of the health and safety of Pennsylvania schoolchildren considering a statewide COVID-19 resurgence that is filling hospital beds just as students return to class.
The Department of Health order will take effect Tuesday. It comes after the start of school in many districts — and will require students, teachers and staff to wear masks when inside.
The order will not apply to student athletes while they’re playing. The masking order will apply to private as well as public schools and will also apply to child care facilities.
The Democratic governor took action after the Republican leaders of the House and Senate rejected his request to pass legislation requiring masks in classrooms. GOP lawmakers acknowledged that coronavirus cases are again surging across the state but wrongly insisted that local leaders were best positioned to respond to the pandemic.
Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford, said the statewide mandate makes him “beyond furious.”
“If somehow they’re trying to find a way to take this away, that will be a breathtaking example of bureaucratic overreach,” said Topper, a senior member of the House Education Committee.
Masking is a highly contentious issue, and school board meetings have been the scene of heated debate as parents argue for and against. Local school boards could be intimidated or too influenced by politics from making decisions that are in the best interest of keeping children safe.
Also, this is not a problem confined to a local school district but a statewide problem.
Parents of special needs children sued a suburban Philadelphia school board that refused to mandate masks. The North Schuylkill School District began requiring masks indoors after it was forced to quarantine 60 students. Last week, a federal judge ordered the North Allegheny School District and its board to require face masks.
Pennsylvania is now averaging more than 3,200 new, confirmed infections daily — 20 times the number of cases it was reporting on a typical day in early July. More than 1,700 people are hospitalized with COVID-19. Deaths have doubled in two weeks to about 20 per day.Wolf’s order is in line with the recommendations of public health experts. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks in schools for students, staff and teachers.
Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune.