PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Gov. Tom Wolf is asking the state Legislature to get to work on a bill that would require masks in schools statewide.
In a letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, and House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, the Democratic governor acknowledged the election results from May that granted the General Assembly more power in the way emergencies are handled in Pennsylvania and was looking for the Legislature to act on masks.
Wolf, just weeks prior, said such decisions should be left to school boards. However, in the letter, the governor cited concerns about a rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths as the school year is set to begin. He said he is also concerned about the spread of misinformation about the virus and the vaccines, and the role of politics in decision making.
"Recently, my administration has seen an outpouring of calls from parents, teachers, pediatricians and others urging action to mandate masking in K-12 classrooms due to the inaction of many school districts," Wolf wrote. "This is not due to an organized form letter campaign. Constituents, primarily parents of young children who are not able to be vaccinated, are very concerned about the lack of a mask mandate in their school district."
A spokesperson for Cutler told the Associated Press that the Republican leaders were reviewing the governor’s letter. The office of House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said House Republicans were against a statewide mandate.
"Just because there’s not a statewide mandate requiring people to wear masks doesn’t mean people don’t have the option to wear masks," said Benninghoff spokesperson Jason Gottesman.
In the Philadelphia area, districts are making their own decisions. While masks will be mandatory in the School District of Philadelphia, the Central Bucks Board of School Directors voted 5-4 against a mask mandate Wednesday night. The decision was made even though hospitals in Bucks County came out in favor of a mask mandate in order to slow down the spread of the virus and because of concerns that the health care system would be overwhelmed.
"The answer is pretty obvious, right?" Keith Farrell said to NBC 10 outside of the Central Bucks school board meeting in Doylestown. Farrell supports the mask mandate.
"The CDC guidelines, the safety the masks provide -- we don’t all have to agree, but we should be respectful about it. And we should keep the safety of children, teachers, parents -- everybody -- first.”
"It’s nonsense. We’re tired of being pushed around," said Annemarie Woodworth, who is against the mandate. She told NBC 10 that her daughter and her friends would not be wearing a mask, no matter what. "We’re tired of being told what we can do and what we can’t do. It’s America."
Wolf's letter said that at the end of July just 59 of 474 school district plans submitted to the Education Department mandated masks.
"It is clear that action is needed to ensure children are safe as they return to school," Wolf said.
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Pennsylvania voters narrowly approved a statewide referendum in May that curbed a governor's emergency powers. The constitutional amendments were proposed by Republican lawmakers angry over Wolf's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, including his orders shuttering businesses, sending students home for online schooling and ordering masks worn outside the home.
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But Wolf - who largely had lifted his orders before the referendum - has maintained that the referendum did not limit his authority to issue orders designed to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, such as shutdowns or masking restrictions. Those rest on separate public health law, his administration has said.
"My administration will continue to monitor the situation, communicate and work with the General Assembly and take actions as needed to keep our children safe, and in the classroom," Wolf said in the letter.
Pennsylvania's two statewide teachers unions last week urged K-12 schools to require masks in school buildings, citing the threat of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks in schools for students, staff and teachers.
But masking has become a contentious and politicized issue, with heated debate taking place at the local level as school boards decide what their policy will be as schools reopen for the fall. Some Pennsylvania districts said they will require masks, including urban school districts in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, Allentown and Bethlehem, but many others have decided to make them optional.