State College Area School District changes course, will now require masks indoors for all

The State College Area School District has changed its summer and fall health and safety plans to include mandatory masking for all while indoors.

The shift was announced Monday in an email to district families from Superintendent Bob O’Donnell, who wrote that the move is effective immediately and in response to Centre County entering the substantial level of COVID-19 transmission. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that fully vaccinated people wear a mask indoors if they live in areas with substantial or high transmission.

“We intend to start the year with these mitigation protocols in place. In the coming weeks, we will continue to monitor local conditions and adjust our protocols accordingly if needed,” O’Donnell wrote.

Last month, the district’s board of directors approved a health and safety plan that required masks for unvaccinated people in school buildings. Since then, with cases of the delta variant surging, the CDC issued recommendations for universal masking in schools across the nation.

So far, other Centre County school districts have not announced changes to health and safety plans and SCASD is the only district to require indoor masking for all.

SCASD’s health and safety plan also includes 3-6 feet physical distancing indoors. There is no physical distance or masking requirement while outdoors.

The district has also developed a questions and answers guide and O’Donnell instructed parents to contact building principals with questions about specific schools.

This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 8:00 AM.