Posted on 08/18/2020 2:22:12 PM PDT by lightman
Desks sitting six feet apart will not allow students to skirt the universal mask or face shield mandate ordered by the state Department of Health, according to guidance that was issued on Monday to school officials.
Pennsylvania’s Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said on Tuesday this guidance is a clarification, rather than a change, in rules that were sent out to schools in July that drew a lot of questions.
“What we heard is some of the language isn’t as clear as it could be so we wanted to make sure that we were as clear as possible,” Levine said at a news conference at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Susquehanna Township. “If [students] are in their classroom, even though they are six feet apart, they should be wearing their masks.”
School officials and House Republicans, however, take a different view and see it as Big Spring School District Superintendent Richard Fry “a pivot point.”
For his western Cumberland County district, Fry said this latest guidance doesn’t change the district’s plans that include offering families a choice between face-to-face instruction, livestreamed classes or online courses offered through the Capital Area Online Learning Association. But he said it may cause some families to change the choice they pick.
“Families getting this information late in the process, it may be something that causes them consternations,” he said. “We indicated all along that when our kids could be socially distanced, the mask could be down. But now they are going to have to be up.”
Still, he said getting an order that changes the rules just a few weeks before schools in his district open is late in the game, “but it doesn’t pay us to get frustrated. We’re going to just keep on plugging,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association agreed receiving state guidance so close to the beginning of the school year presents new challenges for school officials.
“With respect to the latest update regarding face coverings, we feel confident school leaders will work to integrate this into their plans, but the shifting circumstances and changing recommendations makes it difficult for school leaders to plan for implementation and also to communicate to their respective school communities,” said PSBA spokeswoman Annette Stevenson.
She added: “Guidance at an earlier stage could have been more seamlessly incorporated, but if the health and well-being of the students, staff and communities is what’s at stake, which it is, then we feel confident that school leaders will work to address this update along with others that may follow.”
Until the “Dear Colleague” letter arrived via email on Monday afternoon from deputy education secretary Matt Stem, district officials say they were operating under the health department’s mask guidance issued in July that states:
“Students may remove face coverings when students are eating or drinking when spaced at least six feet apart; seated at desks or assigned workspaces at least six feet apartment, engaged in any activity at least six feet apart (e.G. face covering breaks, recess, etc.); or when wearing a face covering creates an unsafe condition in which to operate equipment or executive a task.”
But the “Dear Colleague” letter notes that guidance will evolve as more data and research becomes available. It states that the American Academy of Pediatrics released an update last week recommending children age two and older should wear a face covering at all times to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“Given this recent change from the AAP, and consistent with the Secretary of Health’s Face Covering Order issued on July 1, 2020, [the Department of Health] is requiring students wear face covering at all times while in school, even when six feet of social distancing can be achieved. There are limited exceptions,” states Stem’s letter.
House Republican spokesman Jason Gottesman offered sharp criticism of the health department’s eleventh-hour change in the rules.
“While children and educators should feel free to wear a mask if they feel it is appropriate for their own safety or the safety of others, the statewide unilateral mandate that students wear masks at all times while in school is another last-minute impediment to schools finalizing their reopening plans and goes against the principle of local control over school reopening that Gov. [Tom] Wolf has touted for months,” he said in a statement.
He went on to say that school leaders have gone through painstaking measures to ensure social distancing in the classroom to comply with the July guidance they received from the state.
“This late-coming statewide unilateral mandate was issued after some schools have already opened and throws unnecessary confusion into an already ongoing process,” Gottesman said.
Mask wearing in schools, while regarded by public health experts as an important COVID-19 mitigation strategy, has influenced some parents to consider transferring their children out of their district schools. In fact, cyber charter school operators said it was one of the most often reasons parents cited as to why they were applying to enroll their child in one of their schools that have experienced an explosion in interest for the coming school year.
Permanently close all government indoctrination camps.
My parents sent me to a Catholic grade school where we had to wear white shirts with ugly green ties.
Even as a first grader, I rebelled on the tie and had to constantly be reminded to put it on. I always wore the tie with the knot loosened several inches.
Today, I’d be the student who refuses to wear a mind control device. Heck, as an adult I refuse to wear one unless under duress.
Doctor Mental Case can’t tell me what to wear on my face.
It’s gonna be great. Best school year ever!
‘So the PA health chief is the ugly guy, right?’
Little Richie, whose dickie caused him such frenzy,
he took some whacks with an axe in the state of Pennsy...
Give the kids shields for crying outloud...or end it altogether! Sheesh!
I saved IB’s classic:
while a young kid Richie could then see
his dickie would cause him great frenzy
so he took a huge axe
gave his penis some whacks
and became a grim bigwig in Pennsy..
And now for something completely different, sung to the tune of the “Barney” theme song:
Your mask protects me.
My mask protects you,
I’m a male-bald fat trannie
With an elbow bump and an air kiss too,
Soc’lly distanced: “I love you”.
"Hey, Trannie...leave those kids alone!"
This clown will be @ his/her old place of employment this week to speak to LGBT issues.
Jee what a Surprise!
So the week before schools open, they through another sabot into the machinery.
That is Tommie & Trannie’s M.O.—last minute changes.
Close barbers on a Monday so no one can get a last haircut.
Reduce bar/restaurant capacity on a Wednesday AFTER their weekend food orders have been placed and delivered.
Stick the knife in as deeply as possible and rotate it sideways.
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