Students will no longer be required to wear a mask in school after the state Supreme Court on Friday threw out a statewide mandate for K-12 schools that required masking until Jan. 17. However, children riding buses, like those at the Mars Area School District above, must still mask up under a federal transportation mandate.

Students in Butler County and throughout the state can leave their masks at home Monday when they head for class.

The state Supreme Court on Friday threw out a statewide mandate by Gov. Tom Wolf's acting secretary of health, Alison Beam, that all students, staff and visitors wear masks at K-12 schools until Jan. 17.

The mandate was deemed invalid by the court because it was imposed by Beam without legal authorization.

Students and families can now decide whether to wear a mask at school moving forward.

Attorney Tom Breth, whose Butler law firm represented several individuals and schools that originally petitioned the Commonwealth Court to throw out the mandate, was elated Friday that the mask mandate was struck down by the court.

“I'm thrilled for the parents, students and employees of schools throughout the commonwealth that this illegal order has finally been rescinded,” Breth said.

He said the state Supreme Court represents the final word on the issue, so it cannot be appealed further by Wolf's administration.

The matter went back and forth with various appeals and filings from the state attorney general and Breth as it moved through the courts since Breth's clients first appealed the mandate in the fall.

Breth agrees with the court that Wolf's administration does not have the authority to issue a blanket mandate.

“The Supreme Court is checking the power of an administrative agency when an acting secretary of health acts independent and issues an order on her own,” Breth said. “It's a great day for the rule of law and the concept that appointed executive branch individuals cannot just act independent on these types of issues.”

He said mandating masks in schools should have gone through the regulatory review process.

“If (mandating masks) is as important as they say it is, they've had 20 months to form a regulation for wearing a mask,” Breth said. “They didn't do that. They acted independent on their own.”

Breth praised his clients for their courage in standing up to the Wolf administration's mask mandate.

Brian White, superintendent at the Butler Area School District, said Friday he had not seen the court order, but that the district would likely revert to its health and safety plan. Masks are recommended, but not required in schools in that plan, White said.

White pointed out that students will continue to be required to wear a face covering on their school buses, as that mandate came from the federal Transportation Security Administration and not the governor's administration.

“After we read the order, we will put out a communication this weekend to our families, but I want to read the order first,” White said.

Rebecca Boyd, a South Butler County School District board member, said she fears that fewer masks will mean more cases of COVID-19 in schools, which could lead to students once again learning at home.

“Until all age groups can be fully vaccinated, I think those kids are at risk,” Boyd said.

Boyd said one needs only to look at the high number of COVID-19 cases at Butler Memorial Hospital to gauge the spread of the virus in the county.

“I think it's just a shame,” Boyd said.

She said it is likely that Wolf chose Jan. 17 to end the mask mandate in the hopes that all students would be vaccinated by that date.

Boyd reiterated that she worries about students, faculty and staff now that masks are not required in schools.

“When the masks go away, the spread is going to increase,” she said.