Following court decision and appeal, Centre County schools in ‘holding pattern’ with masks
An order by by Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary that requires masks inside K-12 schools and child care facilities was thrown out by a state court Wednesday, but Centre County students will continue to wear masks while the decision is appealed.
In communications to families, area superintendents wrote that they spent time Wednesday looking into the court decision, which initially appeared to be a major victory for parents who had been fighting the statewide mandate. The Commonwealth Court ruled that Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam’s mandate did not comply with the state’s laws about reviewing and approving regulations and was adopted without an existing disaster emergency declared by the governor.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration filed an immediate appeal, putting the decision on hold.
In an email to parents Wednesday evening, Bellefonte Area School District Superintendent Tammie Burnaford said the district will continue to have its mask mandate in place until the state Supreme Court makes a decision.
“We don’t know when the Supreme Court may decide about the appeal from the Secretary of Health, so for now, we must keep doing what we have been doing in terms of masking,” Burnaford wrote.
Earlier this week, Wolf announced he would return authority over masking decisions to local school districts on Jan. 17, 2022.
“Should the masking order be discontinued in advance of that date, we will revert back to our Health and Safety plan which includes optional masking,” Burnaford wrote.
Scott Graham, superintendent of Bald Eagle Area School District, wrote a similar letter to parents Wednesday.
“For now, the mask mandate remains in effect in the Commonwealth and will continue to be enforced in all schools within the district. Should the PA Supreme Court rule against the appeal, the mask mandate would end and we would revert back to our Health and Safety Plan which makes masking optional,” he wrote.
State College Area School District, however, did have an indoor masking requirement in its health and safety plan after Centre County had an increase of COVID-19 cases. Superintendent Bob O’Donnell wrote in an email to parents Wednesday that if the appeal is rejected before the order expires in January, the district would initially revert back to its health and safety plan.
“We would then consider adjustments to our Health and Safety Plan, including masking, in consultation with our Health and Safety Team. Any change would be made after taking into consideration the local status of COVID-19, our student vaccination rates, and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the state health and education departments,” O’Donnell wrote.
“Our priority remains to be able to offer in-person learning with as few students missing school due to isolation or quarantine as possible. Regardless of the DOH order status, we believe masking is an important mitigation effort at this time,” he wrote.
Nate Althouse, Penns Valley Area School District’s community relations director, confirmed to the Centre Daily Times that the district would continue to be masked.
“Penns Valley will remain masked until there is a ruling indicating we do otherwise from the State Supreme Court, based on the appeal,” Althouse wrote in an email.
Penns Valley initially did not require universal masking, but later implemented its own temporary universal masking order on Aug. 25 due to rising COVID-19 cases, Althouse previously told the Centre Daily Times.
Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District’s superintendent, Gregg Paladina, also confirmed the district would continue to require masks. He said the district is in a “holding pattern” for the next 48 hours until they have more details.
“For the current time, masking is a requirement,” he wrote in a text message.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 2:44 PM.
