Editorial: If schools want parents to decide about masks, how do they enforce that?

Let the schools decide, people said.

When the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the state Department of Education and Gov. Tom Wolf called for masks to protect from covid-19, there was protest from some parents and community members.

This shouldn’t be a state decision. It shouldn’t be an edict from on high, they said. It makes no sense, they said. What is happening in Philadelphia has no bearing on what happens in Greensburg or Tarentum or Pittsburgh.

That was why the state was sued to overturn the school mask mandate. It was why, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did just that in December, some schools immediately rolled it back while others decided to keep it. They exercised judgment.

That ability to choose is leading to some confusing parallels now.

The court ruling came Dec. 10. The state was experiencing a post-Thanksgiving uptick in coronavirus numbers. The seven-day average for new cases was 7,786.

On Jan. 11, with the omicron variant driving spread, the seven-day average hit 28,300. Deaths are higher than they have been since Feb. 3. Pediatric cases are higher than ever, with about 189,000 children statewide diagnosed. Of those, 13,670 are in Allegheny County and 4,133 are in Westmoreland County.

As numbers continue to rise, two things are happening. Some schools — such as Freeport Area High School, St. Therese Elementary School in Munhall and Serra Catholic in McKeesport — are reacting by returning to remote learning until the spike recedes.

Others are considering the opposite. Highlands School Board kept its mandatory mask policy in place after the court ruling when others didn’t. On Tuesday, the board will consider making it optional.

“The sooner people get (covid) and get over it, the shorter time we’ll have to deal with this,” said board member Judy Wisner at an agenda meeting Monday.

Her position and her language received pushback from residents.

“Listening to someone say that my kid should get this and get over it is bull,” Suzy Bajack said.

Bajack has a point — especially as covid-19 can have an extended recovery period in some cases. “Long covid” is the name given to the condition, which can include serious side effects and ongoing health problems.

“We should not be imposing rules on our parents,” Wisner said. “They should be free to make their own decisions.”

If schools want to place the decision in parents’ hands, how are they determining that? Are they collecting permission slips asking which children are required by their parents to wear masks? Are they distributing that information to teachers to enforce those family choices? How will Highlands make that change?

School districts have the ability to make choices in the best interest of their students and communities, but they also have to recognize limitations and consequences.