WEST CHESTER—Many parents and education officials in Chester County are welcoming the Department of Health’s order mandating masks for all students in Pennsylvania’s public and private schools, as well as child care facilities.
The order takes effect Tuesday, Sept. 7.
Even with the lack of a statewide mandate, more than 80 percent of Chester County school districts had imposed some level of mask requirement to start the school year.
“I feel that if it’s going to help keep kids in school and not have to learn virtually, then I think we should do it,” said Jane Donze of East Marlborough. “If the mask mandate will allow the children to stay in school longer, I think we need to go with it.”
Kathy Do, who works with Kennett Middle School’s popular After The Bell program, said keeping students in school is well worth the price of a mask mandate.
“We want to keep all kids safe and want to keep schools open and want to be able to provide worthwhile and meaningful and safe after-school activities for students,” she said. “Right now, because of the ongoing pandemic, most of the younger students are not vaccinated, and we fully support (the governor’s) mask mandate.”
West Chester parent Beth Ann Rosica said she believes decisions such as the mask mandate should not be made by government officials.
“COVID-19 will never be eradicated from our community; therefore, we need to allow individuals, and especially parents, to make the decisions that are best for their families,” Rosica said. “I do not co-parent with the West Chester Area School District, the Chester County Department of Health, the state of Pennsylvania, or the CDC. These are my children, and no one else is responsible for them, except me and my husband.”
State Sen. Carolyn Comitta, D-19th, who is a member of the Senate Education Committee, said the mask mandate will allow schools to remain in session.
“If we want to keep our schools open, maintain classroom learning and allow sports and other activities to continue, masking significantly increases our chances of success. In addition, by adopting this masking order, schools reduce the risk of quarantining entire classrooms as a result of a positive COVID-19 case,” Comitta said.
State Sen. Katie Muth, D-44th, said Gov. Tom Wolf’s order was needed.
“Wearing masks, protecting ourselves and protecting our communities should have never been politicized or vilified — we are still fighting a deadly pandemic and need to take every precaution to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta variant,” she said. “While there were many schools and childcare facilities across our Commonwealth acting responsibly and requiring masks, many others were not — putting the health and well-being of children and our greater communities at risk. This commonsense order takes necessary steps to keep our communities safe and keep our schools open for in-person learning.”
Denise Day, president and chief executive officer for YMCA of Greater Brandywine agrees with Wolf’s order
“The health and safety of all those in our community are of the utmost importance,” she said. The YMCA of Greater Brandywine supports the mandate and all efforts to help keep children and other vulnerable populations safe. To that end, we require masks for all individuals ages two and older in our early learning and school-aged childcare programs.”
Nichole Losita of Avon Grove said the mask mandate makes no sense because students are not at high risk from the virus.
“In my opinion the actions of Governor Wolf are reprehensible regarding the universal mask mandate in Pennsylvania,” she said. “Children are not in a high risk group when it comes to COVID-19, and should not be treated as such.”
Sandy Love of Westtown, who staged an anti-mask protest at the start of school Monday, said students should not have to wear masks in school.
“They are restricting education,” she said. “The kids have a God-given right to breathe.”
But Love’s opinion is in the minority as an overwhelming majority of parents, educators, school officials and lawmakers feel the safety of the students trumps all other concerns.
“(Kennett Middle School) has a mask mandate in place so the governor’s directive doesn’t affect the school in any way,” she said. “I think we would lose many volunteers if a mask mandate was not in place.”
The Wolf administration’s power to require masks in schools appears to be on a solid legal foundation.
In May, voters approved an amendment to the state Constitution limiting the amount of time a governor can issue a disaster declaration to 21 days (it had been 90 days). Voters also approved another change to the Constitution to allow the legislature to extend or end a disaster declaration by a majority vote.
Nonetheless, the governor’s office said the health secretary has the authority to issue a mask order. Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam signed the order under her authority provided by the Disease Prevention and Control Law, the administration said.
Republican legislative leaders, who control the General Assembly, denounced the decision and said it should be a matter for local school boards. A legal battle is certainly possible over the issue, GOP leaders said.
Pennsylvania is now averaging more than 3,200 new, confirmed infections daily — 20 times the number of cases it was reporting on a typical day in early July. Some 1,850 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, up more than sevenfold since last month. Deaths have doubled in two weeks to about 20 per day.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association said the decision on masking should have been left to local school officials. But the group said it would nevertheless remind school districts “of their legal obligation related to the directive.”
Digital First Media staff writer Jen Samuel contributed to this report.
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