Penn-Trafford makes masks optional inside district schools

Wearing face masks will be optional this school year for Penn-Trafford students, staff and visitors inside district buildings. The school board adopted its policy Monday after hearing from residents on opposing sides of the issue.

Assistant Superintendent Scott Inglese said the district will look into the possibility of seating students who want to wear masks and those who don’t on separate sides of classrooms.

“Especially in the elementary schools, where the children don’t have the opportunity to be vaccinated yet (against covid-19), it is an option,” he said.

He said allowing mask-wearing to remain optional was a decision supported by the district’s school physician.

Molly Rae Spino, who has two children in the district, would have preferred that Penn-Trafford mandate mask-wearing to help protect against the spread of covid-19.

Noting recent outbreaks in other parts of the country, Spino said, “With this trajectory, if we follow through and do not consider the data referencing the spike in cases throughout the U.S. … we will be prolonging this crisis and giving it the ability to directly harm our youngest generations.

“It’s imperative that our district make masks mandated in schools until children under 12 have access to the vaccine, at which point, masks could then be made optional and the situation could be reassessed.”

Other parents questioned the efficacy of masks to halt the spread of covid-19 , suggesting it may be difficult to ensure younger students wear masks properly and that improper use could assist the spread of respiratory infections.

Others said wearing masks can interfere with students’ breathing and their ability to communicate with each other and teachers.

Parent Sarah Bartlebaugh objected that a district mask mandate “would force everyone to do what one group of parents wants to do over another.”

Nika Kendall, a Penn-Trafford alumna, said she has severe asthma and initially isolated herself for her own protection early in the covid-19 pandemic. But, she said, her own research convinced her that masks aren’t an effective way to combat the disease. She said residents who are afraid their families will contract covid-19 should “stay home, keep your kids home. Let the rest of us live and — in the nicest way possible — leave our kids alone.”

“Masks are most effective when everybody wears them,” said parent Kathleen Bordone. “It’s not about giving away someone’s freedom, it’s about protecting all of our children as best we can.”

She suggested a compromise between the optional and mandated mask camps: setting a covid-19 positivity rate among students that would trigger the move to a district mask mandate.

Some residents objected to a section of the district health plan that requires students to wear masks while riding on school buses. Inglese pointed out that requirement is part of a federal mask mandate for those using all forms of public transportation.

Inglese reported a recent survey of district parents regarding the mask issue generated more than 1,900 responses. Based on those responses, he said, optional mask-wearing received support from more than 63% of elementary parents, more than 69% of middle school parents and nearly 76% of high school parents.