Pottsville School Board Votes to Finally Make Masks Optional

Pottsville Area school board members voted Wednesday night to finally make face masks indoors optional for students, staff members, and visitors.

The district was one of the few holdouts in Schuylkill County that kept an indoor mask mandate in place after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined the statewide order issued at the beginning of the 2021-22 school term to be unconstitutional.

Pottsville board members voted 7-1 to make masks optional. The decision came about a month after the group voted to extend the mandate for another month.

Pottsville School Board Votes to Make Masks Optional

That means starting on Thursday, Feb. 10, masks will once again be optional at Pottsville Area School District buildings.

Only board member Ashley Dewitt voted against making masks optional. She asked that the motion before the board be amended to once again extend the mandate for another month.

“This is not the right time to let our guard down,” Dewitt said while voting against the matter before the board.

Board member Jerome Urban was not in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting.