Quaker Valley School District makes masks optional when county is in 'moderate' covid transmission levels

Quaker Valley School District officials have updated their health and safety plan to make masks optional at all schools provided certain criteria are met.

Board members voted 8-1 to have masks be recommended and not required when Allegheny County reaches what is considered to be in “moderate” transmission.

Danielle Helkowski dissented. She attempted to amend the plan to allow masks to be optional regardless of the transmission rate.

She cited falling case numbers, the social impact on children, more access to vaccines and a need for educators to focus on instruction among her reasons to do away with masks.

“We have children who need normalcy,” Helkowski said. “Children who need to see someone smile. Children who need to engage with their teachers and their peers again in a way that we once knew.

“Parents need to be a part of their everyday lives at school. … Teachers need to have the burden of being the mask police lifted off of them and focus on teaching and doing what they love.”

That effort failed by a 4-5 vote.

Helkowski, Kati Doebler, Stratton Nash and board president Jonathan Kuzma voted in favor of the amendment.

Board member Gianni Floro said he has gone to supermarkets and activities with people not wearing masks. However, the district may face litigation like North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair school districts. In both cases, federal judges reinstated mask mandates.

In both cases, a group of parents and their attorneys argued the decision to end universal masking violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws because it fails to make reasonable accommodations that would allow the plaintiffs access to school buildings for in-person instruction.

“While I want the students to take these (masks) off,” Floro said. “As soon as we would pass such a motion, there are lawyers out there that are ready to go file against our school district in federal court where they’re assured the opportunity to get attorney’s fees and costs potentially against the district if we were to do something like that.”

Floro said the county may be at the moderate level in a few weeks if cases continue to drop.

“I think it’s very important for us to be steadfast with this,” he said. “If by chance something happens, a different variant comes out, we have our health and safety plan in place. We’re still able to protect our students.

“Our students are still able to participate in their extracurricular activities because of the fact that we’ve been steadfast in holding the line with regard to this.”

Allegheny County and state officials have said case numbers dropped significantly in recent weeks.

However, as of Feb. 17, the CDC still had Allegheny County listed as being “high transmission.”

Parents split

Parents in attendance were also split on the issue.

Lauren Burns said having masks optional when cases drop “represents a commitment to flexibility and responsiveness” during the pandemic, and “a continued commitment to following the guidance of public health experts, officials and recommending bodies.”

Meanwhile, Anna Carlson said the board needs to let parents decide what is best for their children.

“A piece of paper in front of your face doesn’t keep you from getting the virus,” Carlson said. “Anybody knows that, that has intellectual honesty. It’s embarrassing. … I didn’t get brainwashed with all this nonsense that you guys got brainwashed with.”

School directors also agreed to move away from quarantining and contact tracing when masking becomes recommended. Those who may have been in close contact will receive an exposure letter notifying them of the positive case.

Superintendent Tammy Andreyko said the district is still working out the details of making sure the right families get the letter in the absence of contact tracing.

“Our goal remains the same — to keep students in school,” Andreyko said. “I am proud of how determined the students and staff have been during this pandemic. I think we can all agree, getting to a moderate transmission rate will bring some much-needed relief to our students and staff.”

Families will still have the option to quarantine students who have been exposed to covid, but it will not be required if the student is symptom-free. Students who choose to quarantine will be excused from school.

The district’s health and safety plan, as well as other covid-related resources, is available via the “Health” link on the front page of the district’s website, qvsd.org.