Gov. Wolf to let Pennsylvania schools set mask rules in January

Pennsylvania school districts will soon be allowed to modify or end the mask mandate for K-12 students in January, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday, saying it is “time to prepare for a transition back to a more normal setting.”

The Democratic governor said that, on Jan. 17, he expects to turn over decisions about masking to local school officials, although the acting health secretary’s current mask mandate for students will remain in place for early learning programs and child care facilities.

The Wolf administration imposed a statewide mandate in early September, citing a surge in infections and hospitalizations from the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The order from acting Health Secretary Alison Beam required that students, staff and visitors at K-12 schools and child care facilities wear masks while indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

The decision to soon end the statewide mandate comes days after federal officials approved the COVID-19 vaccine for younger children.

“Now, we are in a different place than we were in September, and it is time to prepare for a transition back to a more normal setting,” Wolf said in a statement released by his office. “Unfortunately, the COVID-19 virus is now a part of our daily lives, but with the knowledge we’ve gained over the past 20 months and critical tools like the vaccine at our disposal, we must take the next step forward in our recovery.”

The administration did not indicate whether changing public health conditions in the future might stop Wolf from turning over the masking decision authority to local school districts.

“We will continue to monitor trends to ensure that students, faculty and staff continue to learn and work in person in a safe environment,” Wolf press secretary Beth Rementer said in an email.

The mandate sparked fierce backlash among some parents, and two lawsuits seeking to overturn it are pending.

House Education Chair Curt Sonney, R-Erie, said in the Capitol on Monday that Wolf’s decision was “about time.”

Leonard Rich, superintendent of Laurel School District in Lawrence County, said his district will make masking optional as soon as the statewide mandate is lifted. He said coronavirus cases in his small district have remained low even though mask-wearing has been spotty among students.

“I think schools will shed these mandates rather quickly, and I think that Jan. 17 is about five months too late to return it to a local decision,” he said.

But not all districts are immediately planning to remove mask requirements.

Monica Lewis, a spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia, said the district will continue to follow guidance from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, which currently requires masks indoors.

“We will continue to have masks be worn inside of our school buildings and offices,” Lewis said, adding that if the department modifies those guidelines in the future, the district will adhere to those changes.

PDPH doesn’t currently have plans to lift its indoor mask mandate, which covers schools, according to spokesperson James Garrow.

Wolf had previously said masking was something local school officials should decide but reversed course in late summer. He said the universal, statewide order was warranted after most of the state’s 500 districts did not impose their own mask requirement for schools.

Beam said in a statement that she hoped school officials will “take steps necessary at the local level to preserve in-person education,” and encouraged schools to follow guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Monday, the state’s largest teachers union praised Wolf’s decision.

“Considering the current COVID transmission rates in schools and the availability of vaccines for school staff members and now most students, it makes sense to start planning for the next steps toward returning our schools to some normalcy,” said Chris Lilienthal with the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

“We’re very hopeful that these positive trends we’ve been seeing in recent weeks in terms of COVID numbers will continue and that we can get to a place where we can keep everyone safe and healthy without having to wear masks in school every day.”

Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, also spoke in support of the announcement.

“It seems as though they’re giving everyone enough time to get the younger children vaccinated and get the boosters delivered and provided to everyone, as well as to get through the holiday season where there could be some spikes of COVID due to gatherings,” he said. “We’re pleased that this order will be lifted and given back to local school districts to make decisions based on the transmission rates in their areas.”

On Monday, leaders from some of the state’s largest education groups praised the governor’s decision.

“Considering the current COVID transmission rates in schools and the availability of vaccines for school staff members and now most students, it makes sense to start planning for the next steps toward returning our schools to some normalcy,” said Chris Lilienthal with the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.

“We’re very hopeful that these positive trends we’ve been seeing in recent weeks in terms of COVID numbers will continue and that we can get to a place where we can keep everyone safe and healthy without having to wear masks in school every day.”

Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, also spoke in support of the announcement.

“It seems as though they’re giving everyone enough time to get the younger children vaccinated and get the boosters delivered and provided to everyone, as well as to get through the holiday season where there could be some spikes of COVID due to gatherings,” he said. “We’re pleased that this order will be lifted and given back to local school districts to make decisions based on the transmission rates in their areas.”

Annette Stevenson is with the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, which represents around 4,500 school board members across the state. In a statement, she said her organization “has long advocated for and supported the local authority of school boards in that they are best suited to represent the interests and well-being of their school districts and local community.”

But Christina Master, co-chair of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ School Health Committee, said she was surprised by the announcement.

“I think setting a firm date that far in the future, it’s hard to predict where we’re going to be at that point,” she said, noting that she would like to see the administration use specific thresholds to determine when it’s safe to lift the mandate.

Two pending lawsuits assert the Wolf administration had no legal right to impose the mask mandate. The plaintiffs — among them the top leader of the state Senate, President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre — include parents who contend that masks interfere with their children’s breathing and cause other problems. Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court heard arguments in the suits last month but has yet to rule.

Despite many Republican state lawmakers being opposed to the mask mandate, the GOP-majority Legislature has not approved legislation to overturn it.

The administration says more than 72% of Pennsylvania adults are fully vaccinated.

Beam’s masking order said school officials who do not enforce it may face criminal penalties and could lose immunity from civil lawsuits.