PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Gov. Tom Wolf has a timeline for when he expects Pennsylvania school districts to set their own rules and standards on masks as a preventive measure against COVID-19 transmission starting in the new year.
Jan. 17 is the date that the governor has set for the expected end of the statewide mask mandate. Starting then, schools will be on the hook to make their own decisions about masks in grades K through 12.
Currently, under the current order from the state's Department of Health, children and adults are required to wear masks inside buildings for grades K-12, early learning programs and child care services, regardless of vaccination status.
The Wolf administration now says they expect local school officials to implement mitigation efforts in their jurisdictions for K-12, and the full order will remain in effect for early learning programs and child care providers until further notice.
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The statewide mask mandate for schools went into effect in early September, as case counts were climbing.
Acting Health Secretary Allison Beam pointed toward the delta variant of the coronavirus, among other issues, requiring again that all students, staff and visitors to K-12 settings were masked regardless of vaccination status.
“We are in a different place than we were in September, and it is time to prepare for a transition back to a more normal setting," said Wolf.
Wolf said Monday that his administration has made clear they would continue to re-evaluate the status of the school mask mandate.
House Republican caucus spokesman Jason Gottesman questions why the governor would wait until January 17th, a date Gottesman calls an “arbitrary time in the future.”
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Gottesman points out the COVID-19 vaccine is now available for the vast majority of school-aged children.
“This ill-advised statewide mask mandate for children should be lifted immediately at all levels," he said.
Gottesman added that when the Wolf Administration issued its mandate, many schools had already made their decisions in contentious board meetings. He said the governor’s decision forces “these local elected leaders, many of whom are newly elected, into the trying circumstance of relitigating these already-made decisions.”
