Greater Latrobe: Note from chiropractor won't suffice for student mask exemption

Greater Latrobe students who seek a medical exemption from the state mandate requiring masks in schools must provide a valid doctor’s note.

District officials told parents this week that an exemption request backed by another type of medical professional, such as a chiropractor, isn’t sufficient.

“We’re being consistent with what we’ve done from the get-go,” Assistant Superintendent Michael Porembka said at this week’s school board meeting. “We’re not accepting orders from chiropractors.”

“We do follow recommendations from physicians,” in accordance with guidance from the state Department of Education, said Laurie Havrisko, the district’s covid-19 pandemic coordinator and director of pupil services.

School board member Dr. Rhonda Laughlin, an optometrist, said she would not provide a mask-exemption request for a patient who may complain of mask-related problems, such as headaches, because “that’s not my specialty.” But, she said, she would confer with the patient’s physician on the matter.

Parent Mark Lancianese, who spoke at a previous board session, repeated his opposition to the mask mandate. He said he believes the state Department of Health has overstepped its authority with the order.

“They’re not lawmakers,” he told the board. “You’re letting them control you.”

Greater Latrobe had approved a mask- optional policy for students and staff before the Sept. 7 mask mandate.

Porembka said he sympathizes with parents who want control over whether their children wear masks. But, he said, “There’s an order from the state. We’ve been placed in a position that we have to follow it. Your argument is with the state.”

District Solicitor Ned Nakles repeated his advice to the board to honor the mandate, indicating it appears state officials had the legal authority to issue the order.

So far, Nakles said, three appeals being heard in federal courts “seem to be supporting the validity of the mask mandate.” But, he noted, as the cases progress, “That could all change.”

If the district were to wilfully disobey the mask mandate, Nakles indicated, it could be charged with a daily summary offense for each student who is in violation of the order.

“If we don’t follow the order, our liability insurance company will cancel us,” said school board member Heidi Kozar. If that were the case, she said, each board member could be held personally liable if a covid case at a district school were to trigger legal action.

Greater Latrobe uses a covid dashboard on the district website to report active covid cases. Its most recent report listed two cases at Blairsville Elementary and one each at Baggaley and Mountain View elementary schools.

“I’m not here to fight you,” Lancianese told school officials. “If (mandate opponents) have to go to Harrisburg, we want you to back us up.”

If area residents were to stage a mandate protest in Harrisburg, Laughlin said, “Let me know, and I’ll be there.”

But, she said, the district must follow the mandate while it remains in effect.

She said she would not support mandatory covid vaccinations for those in district schools, but added the mask order “is not to that extreme.”

Board member Dr. Michael Zorch, who is a retired emergency room physician, was among a minority on the board, including Kozar, who had voted against the district’s mask-optional policy, preferring mandatory masks even before the state order.

He said there is evidence that “wearing masks in school keeps kids in school.”