Burrell School District offers unhappy parents individual meetings for mask issues

At a time when many school boards are being confronted by yelling parents irate over mask mandates, Burrell School District is offering up private meetings with students’ parents to work through the mask issues.

Two lawsuits are pending in Pennsylvania challenging the legality of the recent mask mandate at schools. Nearly all school districts, Burrell included, are obeying the mandate while trying to respond and help parents unhappy with the mask requirements.

At Burrell, roughly half of the parents who responded to a survey support students wearing masks to school while the other half doesn’t, Superintendent Shannon Wagner said.

Masks were optional at Burrell before the Sept. 7 mandate by the state Health Department.

Burrell grants maskless grace period

The school board unanimously passed a measure Wednesday night for parents to meet with a school district official to work on a face mask exemption for medical or other reasons.

In the meantime, those students who have not yet secured medical and other types of documentation have been given a grace period where they don’t have to wear masks.

Currently, about 3.5% of the students have applied or are in the process of applying for a face mask exemption, Wagner said.

At a Burrell School Board meeting last week, more than a dozen parents spoke out against the mandate, questioning its legality and the science behind using masks.

In response, Burrell extended the grace period until Tuesday for parents to secure medical notes to relieve some students from wearing masks.

On Tuesday night, the grace period was extended again as parents meet individually with school officials about their child’s masking issues.

“We are saying, ‘Come on in and have a conversation,’ ” board member Rachel Linderman said.

Wagner added: “We need to meet with families and hear their concerns.”

Board member LeeAnn Guido gave an example of a child who has anxiety wearing a mask in school. There are professionals in the district and resources to help students, she said.

Some parents were concerned if a child is identified as having anxiety or another condition causing problems with mask-wearing, that the issue would go into the child’s permanent record.

Wagner said that would not happen.

Issues regarding wearing masks would be treated like any other health accommodation, which is common in the district.

Parents at Wednesday’s meeting had questions but seemed to be interested in meeting with school officials on their own.

One of the parents, Nikki Watson, who has questioned the legality of the mask mandate, told the school board, “I want to thank everyone for all of their hard work. We genuinely appreciate it.”