Franklin Regional students will have the choice of whether or not to wear masks when the 2021-22 school year begins on Aug. 23, based on the health and safety plan approved by school directors earlier this week.

The school board adopted the plan by an 8-0 vote — director Jane Tower was not present — in the face of criticism by parents on both sides of the masking issue.

“I’m concerned, with five children enrolled, that the irrational fears of some will overshadow the ability of parents to make decisions about their child’s health and happiness,” said Charles Chadwick. “I’m not interested in forcing anyone to wear a mask who doesn’t want to wear one, or to force anyone to remove a face mask if they don’t want to.”

On the opposite side of the issue were parents like Katherine Jordan of Delmont, who, along with her husband and mother-in-law, are immune-compromised.

“I would like to send my children to school. I understand there are concerns (about masks),” Jordan said. “I’m an attorney. I don’t like to stand up here with my face covered. But while having some problems communicating is difficult, imagine having a 5-year-old sitting in front of a computer for six hours a day.”

The board’s first in-person meeting since March 2020 was well attended.

Delmont resident Annamarie Grand said the district’s stance on health and safety recommendations — essentially that they would implement stricter measures only if required by law — instead of following recent CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations that all school students and staff begin the 2021-22 year with mask usage, “is not acceptable.”

“I don’t know when FR became a district where the bare minimum is good enough,” Grand said. “If this is what is coming from our leading national medical experts, what makes this board qualified to disregard those guidelines?”

Parent Matthew Olszewski of Murrysville said the board’s decision is simple.

“Families have their choice and are given the option,” he said. “There are alternatives out there besides vaccination.”

“No one can force us to take away our freedoms,” said Jennifer Reider of Murrysville. “I believe in the right to breathe oxygen unrestricted. … Every time I spoke with a teacher, they’d say they were having difficulty connecting with students this past year.”

Assistant Superintendent Robin Pynos said the health and safety plan was written “in very broad terms to be flexible and responsive.”

School director Paul Scheinert said safety will be the primary driver for any changes to the plan once the academic year starts.

“As we saw last year, conditions related to covid evolve, and the district made changes in response to what was going on,” he said. “We all were hopeful that by this time, we wouldn’t be dealing with so many changes, but the Delta variant is out there and we’re seeing effects in the rest of the country.”

Director Bill Yant said he was disappointed that groups like the state Department of Education and the CDC can’t seem to get on the same page regarding health and safety guidance.

“The CDC says mask up, but the state of Pennsylvania says, ‘Well, that’s not a bad idea, but each school district should decide.’ So they gave everyone both sides, then they dumped it on us,” Yant said. “There was a time when (Superintendent) Dr. Piraino was waking up and jumping on his computer to figure out, what are we doing today? Everyone on this board has spent hours and hours trying to figure out the right way to do things.”

Grand did not think so.

“Masks are such a simple solution, and not requiring them is putting children at risk,” she said. “It is not your responsibility to cave to unfounded complaints from those who simply don’t want the inconvenience of a mask. It’s your responsibility to protect these children while they are in your hands.”

Board member Ed Mittereder said, regardless of what parents and children decide, the district would not tolerate discrimination or bullying over the mask issue.

“We’ve all heard about bullying, but that’s not something we’re going to allow to happen,” Mittereder said. “There’s not going to be anyone bullied or singled out because they chose to wear a mask, or chose not to.”

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Aug. 16 at the Murrysville municipal building at 4100 Sardis Road. Meetings are broadcast on Comcast local access Channel 19, and streamed live at Murrysville.com.

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