Pottsville Area School District released its updated Health and Safety Plan on Tuesday. It calls for an end to the mask mandate, just not yet.
The district has decided to end the mask mandate on Jan. 13, 2022. In an updated plan sent to parents today, the mask mandate will end then unless a mask mandate is ordered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Pennsylvania Dept. of Health.
Both those scenarios seem unlikely since the CDC can’t issue mandates like that. And a big Supreme Court case just ruled that the state Dept. of Health can’t do it either.
Pottsville is 1 of 9 Schuylkill County school districts that kept a mask mandate in place after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the order to mask up in schools was illegal when it was issued back in August
Prior to that order, every district in the area besides Gillingham Charter School voted to make masks optional.
Pottsville Area School District Updates Mask Mandate Policy
Here are some more details on the updated Health and Safety Plan as released by the district Tuesday. The plan lays out 2 phases:
In Phase 1, which is in effect until Jan. 12, 2022, masks are mandatory for students and staff during the school day. Masks are optional for everyone during extra-curricular activities.
Masks will still be required on district-provided transportation.
The district says it will stop placing phone calls and sending texts and emails for new cases of COVID discovered among people at the schools. Instead, updated case totals will be displayed here.
Regarding quarantines, they’ll be optional for asymptomatic students. Pottsville will keep a “3-foot standard” for identifying close contacts of a person with a positive case.
During Phase 2, which takes effect on Jan. 13, 2022, masks will be optional for students, staff, and visitors to Pottsville Area School District. However, masks will still be required on district-provided transportation.
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- Here’s Where Schuylkill County Schools Stand on Mask Mandates Now
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Down School Mask Mandate
- “Potential Threat” Forces Mahanoy Area Schools to Go Virtual
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