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The Pennsylvania Department of Education has not directly addressed the Warren County School District’s response to the statewide school mask mandate – but the department has seen similar cases and does not consider them compliant.
On Monday, the school board approved a motion allowing parents to sign a form, without a medical professional doing so, saying a student had a medical or mental reason for not having to wear a mask.
Asked about the situation, the department’s press secretary said that a school entity that allows the assertion of a parent, in the absence of medical evidence of a condition preventing the wearing of a mask, is in violation of the order.
“Under the ordinance… school entities must require that all individuals, aged 2 years and over, wear a face covering, unless the individual has a health problem or a medical or mental disability that prevents it. wearing a face cover. “ Press secretary Kendall Alexander said. “According to article 3 of the ordinance, before a person is excluded from the ordinance, all alternatives to a face covering, including a face shield, must be exhausted. “
“The Order is not an optional mask policy”, said Alexander. “Any school entity simply authorizing a parent’s approval without proof that the student has a health problem or a medical or mental disability that prevents the wearing of a face covering is not in compliance with the ordinance. “
“It is recommended that any exceptions comply with eligibility under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or IDEA for such health problem or medical or mental disability.” “ she said. “School entities should follow their established processes to determine student eligibility under these laws, including any medical documentation they would normally require.”
“There are exceptions to the masking order, but a parent’s opposition to the order is not one of them”, said Alexander.
Asked about potential penalties for districts found to be in violation, Alexander provided a redacted letter sent to another school district. In this communication, PDE took a hard line against the censored district.
No such letter has been reported as being sent to the Warren County School District.
According to the letter:
“The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has received information that (recipient has redacted) is in flagrant violation and has no intention of complying with the order.”
“Failure to implement and follow the control measures under the ordinance subjects a person, who includes you as a member of the board of directors, to the criminal provisions of the law on the prevention and control of 1955 illnesses. A violation occurs every day there is a violation and can be billed for each student or staff member attending the school.
“Additionally, districts that fail to comply with the law or choose to violate the law can be referred to the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights for investigation. “In particular, failure to comply with the ordinance may prevent immunocompromised students and other susceptible students from attending classes in violation of the IDEA, ADA, and the Rehabilitation Act.
The article approved by the Warren County School District Board of Directors on Monday did not include an administrative recommendation or action by the board committee. In fact, there is a note attached to the agenda item to this effect: “This agenda item has not been considered by the committee and is not an administrative recommendation.”
In communicating to a district that was in violation, PDE offers some protection to those who were not part of a decision to violate the order.
“PDE has received inquiries about how superintendents, principals and teachers should approach school boards asking them to break the law. Please note that individuals who report that district officials have asked them to act in violation of the law may be entitled to protection under state whistleblower law.
Until Wednesday, the district accepted the form approved by the council as sufficient to allow students to not wear masks. “We honored the form”, said Superintendent Amy Stewart.
The administration has prepared an additional document – a waiver – which will be part of the exemption process going forward.
The Face Cover Exemption Form and Student Exemption Form, along with a message regarding face coverings, can be found under “new” on the district website – www.wcsdpa.org.
Now that the waiver is available, it will be part of the exemption requirement from having to wear a face covering, Stewart said. “To be able to exercise the exception, students and staff must have both the form and the waiver on file.”
QUARANTINE CLARIFICATION
In the article titled “Face masks prevent students from having to quarantine themselves” in the Wednesday, Sept. 15 edition of the Times Observer, there was an oversimplification of the rules for close contact with regard to people wearing masks.
According to Stewart, the student exceptions listed for vaccinated and unvaccinated students who are in close contact with another COVID-positive student, do not apply if students were within three feet of each other for close contact.
Students vaccinated with close contact within a yard must wear masks in schools for 14 days, or until a test – which must be done two to five days after contact – comes back negative. Unvaccinated students who were properly masked during close contact of less than three feet will be refused entry.
Student exceptions apply when the close contact was three to six feet away. In these cases, no further action is required when both parties were wearing masks correctly.
COVID STATISTICS
There were 20 new cases of COVID-19 in Warren County reported by the Department of Health on Wednesday.
This brings the total to 3,055 cases, 2,359 confirmed and 696 probable.
For the month, there have been 220 cases.
The death toll from the virus in the county remains at 111.
As of Wednesday’s report, 17,200 county residents had been at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, including 14,812 fully vaccinated.
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