Students, staff and visitors will still need to wear masks when inside Quaker Valley School District buildings, despite the recent Pennsylvania State Supreme Court affirming a lower court ruling that Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of health didn’t have the authority to issue a mask mandate for schools earlier this school year.
Since the ruling, Quaker Valley has reverted back to the health and safety plan that was approved in August. It states that when Allegheny County’s covid-19 transmission rate is determined to be “high” – as it currently is – “the District shall require universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.”
This will be the case until the transmission rate in Allegheny County is significantly reduced, or when the school board amends its health and safety plan, according to Jenna Colussy, who is handling communications for the school district.
The board will reconvene for regular meetings in January.
