Masks optional at Norwin; mask/maskless classes may be created in elementary grades

Norwin students will have the option of wearing masks in class under a health and safety plan that was the focus of an hour-long debate this week over whether the district should require students to wear masks.

The near-unanimous approval of the state-required health and safety plan by the school board on Monday came without any public discussion among board members. The key element of the plan — allowing masks to remain optional — was not altered from when it was developed earlier this summer.

Director Donald Rhodes was the lone opponent to the district’s health and safety plan. Rhodes said he believes the plan should have followed the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The CDC recommends that people age 2 and older who are not vaccinated should wear face masks indoors and the pediatricians’ organization recommends that all staff and students wear face masks unless medical or developmental conditions prohibit their use.

The decision not to make face coverings optional for those elementary students was supported by 68% of the respondents to a district survey conducted in July, while 31% disagreed, Superintendent Jeff Taylor explained to about 200 people who attended the school board meeting Monday at the high school auditorium. Pennsylvania’s stance is that face coverings are optional, Taylor said.

For those 2,610 students in kindergarten through sixth grade not eligible for covid vaccinations, Taylor said that 74% of parents and guardians who responded to a recent survey on masks were opposed to their children wearing masks in school.

The administration will attempt to accommodate parental choice by separating elementary students into maskless classes and masked classes, where possible, but that can’t be guaranteed, Taylor said. In some classrooms, there may be a combination of masked and unmasked students, but spaced apart, Taylor said.

Among the more than 20 parents who spoke about the mask issue, the majority wanted masks to remain optional and received the strongest support by the audience in the form of clapping and cheering.

The debate featured comments from three Republican candidates and one Democrat running for school board in the November election.

Republicans Alex Detschelt, Christine Baverso and Shawn Ilagan all spoke in favor of giving parents the choice of whether to have their children wear masks.

Ilagan contended the regular influenza is more dangerous and that the CDC made its recommendations without sufficient medical data. Detschelt criticized the possibility of district separating students into masked and unmasked “cohorts.”

“Don’t push your unfounded fears on me,” Detschelt said.

Democrat Carrie Muniz, a nurse who conducts clinical research for a pharmaceutical company, suggested the district should follow all of the CDC guidelines, not just some. Muniz suggested the district should track the infection rates for those who are masked and unmasked people as a study.

Whether students should wear masks has caused a division among Megan Yunn’s three elementary-age children. Yunn said one wants to wear a mask and the others do not.

Ryan Lynn, president of the Norwin Education Association, which represents the teachers, said in a statement Wednesday that the union encourages teachers to take the necessary actions to protect the health and well being of the students.

”The district has continued to provide the necessary PPE (personal protective equipment) to perform our jobs to the best of our ability and we would expect nothing different this upcoming year,” Lynn stated.