Karns City Area School District's outgoing board members voted to make masking optional should the state remove its mandate after the court hearing scheduled Wednesday.

Following the school mask mandate enacted by Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam on Aug. 31, a number of parents and schools filed a lawsuit against its legitimacy in the Commonwealth Court. They questioned the mandate, saying it was issued without proper authority.

Shortly thereafter, Gov. Tom Wolf returned jurisdiction over masks to the school districts starting in January.

The state Supreme Court decided to temporarily extend the mandate until a decision is made in the Supreme Court case.

The decision by the Karns City Area school board was unanimous at Thursday's meeting, as the board voted 9-0 to place no district-level masking requirements or recommendations if the state's mandate is removed.

Eric Ritzert, superintendent, said the schools were operating on an optional masking policy before the mandate.

“As long as the courts keep the mandates in place, we will comply,” Ritzert said Friday. “If the state issues a revised ruling, we will comply. If they remove the mandate with no additional ruling, then masks will be optional.”

The board also received an update from architect Anthony Colestock, who's assisting on the building project at Chicora Elementary School.There will be a shift in the project's timeline due to the delay in submitting an application for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.The building project will come within 100 feet of a creek that runs along either side of the school's property, and so permits from Butler County and the Department of Environmental Protection are necessary, Colestock said.Ritzert said the impact is the result of the anticipated additional time that it will take to find a suitable offsite riparian buffer location, which is intended to offset the impact of the construction.“We've experienced a delay obtaining permits, and we're not as confident in the project being completed at the 2023 school year,” Ritzert said.Ritzert said this delay may make it easier for the consolidation of Chicora and Sugarcreek Elementary schools to take place later.“We'll be discussing administratively to delay the transition to the following school year,” Ritzert said. “It may be easier to make the transition at the end of the year rather than moving kids mid-year.”

Following the board meeting was a reorganization meeting where new board members were sworn in.The new president and vice president are Josh Price and Brenda Ealey, respectively.Other board members are Matt Bishop, Robert Bray, Domina Hillwig-Friel, Cari Harmon, Vance Perry and Ashley Summerville.Ritzert said the board is looking to fill a vacancy, and there will be a special meeting Dec. 20 for interested parties to make an appointment to meet with the board.He said he's excited to start working with the newly elected members.“I'm positive about their desire to serve the school,” Ritzert said. “The administration is ready to work with the new board members and help them learn more about the school.”