Mask debates rage in Western Pa. as schools return to class

The debate over whether students should wear masks to school this fall shows no signs of cooling down at area districts, with the start of classes arriving as the covid-19 transmission rate rises across the region.

Officials in Harrisburg have recommended that local districts follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has recommended masks for everyone inside schools, whether they have received a covid vaccine or not. But the lack of a firm state mandate has placed local school boards in the hot seat of the mask debate.

Many boards have approved mask-optional policies that allows families to decide whether their children should don face coverings in school buildings. But, reflecting the mask divide among those they represent, the decisions haven’t always been unanimous.

Dr. Michael Zorch, a retired emergency room physician and Greater Latrobe School Board member, heads the board’s health and safety committee, charged with reviewing local pandemic conditions. But he was among those outvoted in a 6-3 decision July 27 to make masks optional for students, staff and visitors during the 2021-22 school year.

Zorch acknowledged the pressure that local boards are under while setting covid-19 protocols and noted his stance on masks evolved along with the recent surge in cases.

“When we first were talking about this, the cases were going away in (Westmoreland) county,” Zorch said. “My initial thought was, ‘Our kids don’t need a mask in school.’ Then, all of sudden, the numbers were going up.”

Zorch has said the school board should not ignore the guidance offered by organizations such as the CDC that are focused on public health.

“If keeping the community safe and keeping our kids safe requires wearing a mask for a period of time, that’s what we need to do,” he said. “That’s my opinion. I think by doing that, we keep kids in school.

“The hurt for kids came from them not being in school. There’s nothing I’ve seen anywhere that says putting a mask on kids hurts them.”

When the Highlands School Board met on Monday, member Kristie Babinscak made an impassioned plea for the district to require masks, only to find no support from any of the six other members present.

“They don’t want to take a stand,” she said. “Everybody on that board has the right to do what they want to do. I kind of knew I was making a bold statement.

“I’m going to do what I think is in the best interests of those kids and the community, and I’m going to do it every time,” she said. “If I have people hate me, I have people hate me. Nobody said it was going to be an easy job.”

Since Highlands chose to remain with masks being optional for students and staff, and she made her position clear, Babinsack said feedback from the community has been mixed.

“There are concerned parents in the community who are worried about their kids going back to school and getting infected by covid or having to quarantine, or, worst-case scenario, the school shutting down as it did last year,” she said. “I want the kids back in school. That’s not the issue for me. I want them back safely.”

Dr. Rhonda Laughlin, a local optometrist, was among the majority that approved Greater Latrobe’s mask-optional plan. She noted the school board will continue to weigh any new pandemic-related information that arises. The health and safety committee was expected to do just that on Friday.

“We’ll just take all the information, like we always do, and make the best decision from that,” Laughlin said. “We have a lot of smart minds in this school.”

Because Gov. Tom Wolf is allowing mask decisions to occur locally, the state teachers union, like parents, is looking for a desired outcome from school boards. In its case, the Pennsylvania State Education Association is advocating for a mask requirement in schools.

“We are hopeful that school districts with optional mask policies will reevaluate their positions, in light of the recent surge in covid cases, and put stronger masking requirements in place before school starts,” said Chris Lilienthal, assistant director of communications for PSEA. “Students under 12 still don’t have access to any of the covid-19 vaccines available in the United States.

“The last thing we want to do, as we fill public school classrooms with eager young learners is throw caution to the wind. That could result in scores of students becoming infected with the virus, bringing it home to their families, and getting themselves and others sick. Our top priority must be keeping students safe while they learn at school, and that means masking up at school.”

Audiences at recent Greensburg Salem School Board meetings have included vocal opponents of masking as well as mask advocates, but the debate among the board members was more nuanced.

On Aug. 12, the board voted 6-3 to adopt a policy recommending but not requiring masks inside school buildings. District administrators said describing masks as “recommended” mirrors language issued by the CDC, but board member Robin Savage was among three dissenters who argued use of that word might make parents feel obligated to make students wear masks. Instead, they suggested the policy spell out that masks are “optional.”

Savage said her stance doesn’t mean she is anti-mask. She has noted the district’s mask-optional plan would have to give way to any mask mandate that might be ordered by a higher authority.

Greensburg Salem has a pandemic committee including administrators and school nurses, but Savage expressed frustration that local districts haven’t been given clear directives on mask use from higher levels of government.

“I think we’re all trying to do our best,” she said. “We’re getting information from the CDC, but it should come from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Department of Education. The governor’s office should be putting something out.”

Until that happens, she said, the decision on masking at school should be up to each family.

“To me, it’s the parent’s decision until a mandate comes down from the federal or state government,” she said. “I don’t think a local board should be putting such mandates out without having a long conversation.”

Greensburg Salem board members Ron Mellinger Jr., Lynna Thomas and Frank Gazze all voted for the “recommended” language concerning masks, which Mellinger noted was favored by the pandemic committee.

Mellinger, the board president, said he made sure mask advocate Dr. Dakota Peterson, a 2010 district graduate who works at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, had an opportunity to address the board.

“There are two sides to this,” he said. “In a world that’s as divided as ours, I have always wanted to hear both sides.”

“Greensburg Salem takes this very seriously,” Gazze said of the mask policy. “We will always monitor things and try to make the very best decision that will keep everyone safe.”

Short of a governmental directive, Thomas said, the board should turn to experts in science and medicine for guidance on covid protocols.

“Following those recommendations is the most consistent and fair way we can make decisions,” she said.

The Fox Chapel Area School Board faced an angry, boisterous crowd Aug. 9 when it voted to require masks. In addition to boos, one person appeared to give the board a Nazi salute.

Some residents said the board was taking away their freedom, but board member Eric Hamilton said the decision preserves the freedom of everyone to be in school full time.

The school board at New Kensington-Arnold approved its plan requiring masks without discussion, debate or much public comment one way or the other. Board President Tim Beckes said he was a little surprised, given what has occurred elsewhere in the area and across the nation.

“We didn’t have a lot of problems last year with masking. The kids were wonderful with being accepting of the masks,” Beckes said. “I think that helped with the parents accepting it and the community and everybody as a whole. They really didn’t prove to be an issue for us last year.”

New Kensington-Arnold will post a survey on its website by Tuesday asking parents whether their children will come to school or learn remotely, Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said. The district is expecting most students to come back and is preparing for them, he said.

Whether or not masks are required in New Kensington-­Arnold schools is tied to the rate of virus transmission in the area. The big unknown now, Beckes said, is the delta variant.

“It’s the safest decision we can make,” Beckes said. “I would be devastated if we didn’t and somebody who didn’t have access to the vaccine contracted it and got seriously ill, and I haven’t done everything possible to keep them safe.”

Penn-Trafford School Board on Monday voted unanimously in favor of a mask-optional plan. The action came after surveying district parents on the issue and hearing comments from both camps at two public meetings.

According to district administrators, the survey generated more than 1,900 responses, with a majority at all grade levels favoring optional mask-wearing. Keeping masks optional also was supported by the school physician.

“We wanted to have a well-rounded view” of the covid masking issue, said Penn-Trafford board member Jim Matarazzo. “People had very in-depth and passionate views on both sides of the ledger. We want to respect everyone.”

Fellow board member Toni Ising listened to “the people we put in the position to guide us medically through this.” She also “listened to everyone who spoke at those meetings and followed up on the research they talked about. Then I draw my own conclusions.”