Masks required at school
The Pennsylvania Department of Education appears to be revising the rules as it goes when it comes to preparing for the school year.
Those rules changed again Monday after the department revised existing universal face covering regulations to reflect a stricter stance.
Children who are 2 years or older are now required to wear a mask during the school day, with three situational exceptions.
Coverings can be removed:While eating or drinking at least 6 feet apartWhen wearing a face covering creates an unsafe condition for operating equipment or completing a taskDuring “face covering breaks” that last no longer than 10 minutes and occur with social distancing.Students with documented medical or mental conditions or disabilities that prevent face coverings are exempt from the universal requirement. The department states accommodations must be made accordingly.Health and safety plans — which districts must develop and submit to the state — are required to incorporate the face covering order.For Mars Area School District, which approved its plan Aug. 11, that means some tweaking needs to be done as the first day of school approaches.“We are now working on plans that will provide the necessary 10-minute 'breaks' at all K-12 levels,” said Mark Gross, district superintendent. “Our original plan allowed for the removal of face coverings once social distancing of 6 feet was obtained.”Mars Area is offering families three options for returning to school Aug. 31.Students can attend class in person, the choice du jour for about 81 percent of 2,662 students surveyed; participate via livestream interactive instruction; or enroll in Mars Area Cyber Academy.The choices are fluid, meaning students can move between platforms as needed.Gross said while district officials understand wearing a face covering all day might be difficult for some students, enforcing the revised order is not optional. Students who won't or can't wear a covering will be asked to learn from home via livestream instruction.“We are relying upon our community and our students to work with us,” Gross said.The key to moving into the school year will be cooperation, according to Gross.He said districts and communities will need to work together to generate safe educational environments.The department's order, a “new and unexpected mandate” according to Gross, is just one example of how quickly things can change in the weeks ahead.“It is important that we support each other's efforts,” Gross said. “Even when that means educational conveniences of the past are now compromised under the new COVID-19 mandates.”
Teachers, staff, administration and visitors are also subject to the face covering order, according to the department.“It's much more restrictive than the previous guidance,” said Brian White, Butler Area School District superintendent.Sports is one of the exceptions to mask guidance, White told the school board Monday night.He said masks can be removed during competition or scrimmages, but they must be worn by students on the sidelines.Administrators will work with parents of students with medical or mental conditions or disabilities preventing them from wearing masks on a case-by-case basis to determine the best way to protect other students and staff, he said.White recommends that students who are unable or unwilling to wear masks should enroll in the district's cyber program. Parents have the option of switching them to in-person instruction during the school year if their concerns ease or the COVID-19 threat diminishes.As part of her update Tuesday, state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine also addressed Monday's clarification of masks being mandatory in schools.“We wanted to make sure that we were as clear as possible,” she said. “Everyone should wear a mask in public, and that includes children in school.”Levine said mask-wearing in schools and the recommendation to halt school sports until Jan. 1 all have the same focus of preventing children from contracting COVID-19.“The idea that children don't get COVID-19 is very incorrect, and the idea that children can't get very sick from COVID-19 is also incorrect,” she said.
