Pennsylvania mandated masks in K-12 schools, day cares
Source: AP
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Masks will be required in all Pennsylvania public and private schools, as well as child care facilities, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday, reversing course amid a statewide COVID-19 resurgence that is filling hospital beds just as students return to class. The Department of Health order will take effect Tuesday, Sept. 7 a week or more after the start of school in many districts and will require students, teachers and staff to wear masks when inside, regardless of vaccination status, the Wolf administration said.
The order will not apply to student athletes while theyre playing, nor to outdoor activities. Wearing a mask in school is necessary to keep our children in the classroom and to keep COVID out of that classroom, Wolf said at a news conference Tuesday. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association said that the decision on masking should have been left to local school officials, but that it would nevertheless remind school districts of their legal obligation related to the directive. Our members remain committed to the health and safety of their students and staff, and while they have welcomed the expertise and guidance of state and federal agencies, they are in the best position to evaluate and promptly respond to the ever-evolving conditions in their own communities, said Nathan Mains, the groups chief executive officer.
The Democratic governor took action after the Republican leaders of the House and Senate rejected his request to pass legislation requiring masks in classrooms. GOP lawmakers acknowledged that coronavirus cases are again surging across the state but insisted that local leaders were best positioned to respond to the pandemic. Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford, said Tuesday that the 10 school districts he represents have worked up their own plans to mitigate COVID-19. He said the coming statewide mandate makes him beyond furious. If somehow theyre trying to find a way to take this away, that will be a breathtaking example of bureaucratic overreach, said Topper, a senior member of the House Education Committee. Less than a month ago, Wolf himself had ruled out a statewide mask mandate for schools after requiring them last year.
But the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus has changed the administrations calculus about what is needed to keep students in class. Pennsylvania is now averaging more than 3,200 new, confirmed infections daily 20 times the number of cases it was reporting on a typical day in early July. More than 1,700 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, up sevenfold since last month. Deaths have doubled in two weeks to about 20 per day. Pennsylvanias two statewide teachers unions had urged K-12 schools to require masks in school buildings, citing deltas threat. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks in schools for students, staff and teachers. But masking is a highly contentious issue, and school board meetings have been the scene of heated debate as parents argue for and against.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-education-pennsylvania-coronavirus-pandemic-f9cfe7234c8194340472baecba3ab6ba
Good!
The state rates have been shooting up and it ain't coming from Philly with over 60% here fully vaccinated (81% with 1 dose). Philly schools started today "in person" for the first time in a year and a half (with a city mask mandate).
Here is the order announcement - actually coming from the Secretary of Health - https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/wolf-administration-requires-masking-in-schools-early-learning-and-child-care-settings-to-keep-students-safely-in-classrooms-and-delta-variant-out/
August 31, 2021
Education, Press Release, Public Health, Public Safety
With a focus on protecting students and keeping them in classrooms, Governor Tom Wolf joined the departments of Health, Human Services and Education today to discuss the current state of COVID-19 and a new Secretary of Health order requiring masks to be worn inside K-12 school buildings, early learning programs and child care providers. The order (PDF) takes effect 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021.
My office has received an outpouring of messages from parents asking the administration to protect all children by requiring masks in schools, said Gov. Wolf. The science is clear. The Delta variant is highly transmissible and dangerous to the unvaccinated, many of whom are children too young to receive the vaccine. Requiring masks in schools will keep our students safer and in the classroom, where we all want them to be.
I preferred for local school boards to make this decision. Unfortunately, an aggressive nationwide campaign is spreading misinformation about mask-wearing and pressuring and intimidating school districts to reject mask policies that will keep kids safe and in school. As we see cases among children increase in Pennsylvania and throughout the country, this is especially dangerous and challenging as we seek to keep kids in school and maintain a safe and healthy learning environment.
Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam was joined at a press conference today by Governor Tom Wolf, Education Secretary Noe Ortega, Human Services Acting Secretary Meg Snead and President of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Dr. Trude Haecker.
The reality we are living in now is much different than it was just a month ago, said Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam. With case counts increasing, the situation has reached the point that we need to take this action to protect our children, teachers and staff. The science is clear. If we want to keep our schools open, maintain classroom learning and allow sports and other activities to continue, masking significantly increases our chances of doing so.
Universal masking in schools, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend, reduces the risk that entire classrooms will need to quarantine due to a positive COVID-19 case. This order ensures Pennsylvanias children are participating in classroom learning without the constant disruptions.
The Delta variant has been a driving force of the pandemic since the end of the previous school year. The variant is more contagious than the original strain of the virus, accounting for more than 92 percent of current COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania. Since July when schools first began discussing health and safety plans, Pennsylvanias COVID-19 caseload has increased from less than 300 a day to more than 3,000 a day with cases among school aged children increasing by more than 11,000 in the last month, and by more than 79,000 from January 2021 to August 2021.
Additionally, new cases of COVID-19 among children enrolled in licensed child care facilities have increased significantly in recent months, according to data reported to DHS by child care providers. For example, on June 4, child care providers reported eight cases of COVID-19 among children in the previous week. On August 27, the number of new COVID-19 cases among children in child care the previous week was 162.
The Wolf Administration continues to urge eligible Pennsylvanians to get vaccinated, as it is the best defense at stopping the spread of the virus. However, there is currently no vaccine approved for children under 12 years old. For eligible adolescents in Pennsylvania, 18.2 percent of children ages 12-14 are fully vaccinated and 38.3 percent of children ages 15-19 are fully vaccinated.
After months apart, students and educators are eagerly returning to classrooms across Pennsylvania for the new school year, said Secretary of Education Noe Ortega. Unfortunately, weve already seen schools across the nation close because of COVID-19. Wearing masks is a proven strategy that will help Pennsylvanias schools reduce the spread of COVID-19, protect their communities, and keep our students and educators where we know its vital for them to be teaching, learning and growing together safely in their classrooms.
An early childhood education experience can shape a childs educational, social and emotional development throughout their lives. Science has shown us that the first five years of life are critical to brain development, influencing the trajectory of an individuals life for many years after, DHS Acting Secretary Meg Snead said. A thriving child care industry is also foundational to the rest of our economy, and this industry and the dedicated educators who show up every day to help our children grow will be essential for our recovery from this pandemic. Simply put, without access to safe child care and early learning programs, many parents cannot work.
Acting Secretary Beam signed the order under her authority provided by the Disease Prevention and Control Law.
The Order applies to everyone indoors at K-12 public schools including brick and mortar and cyber charter schools, private and parochial schools, career and technical centers (CTCs), and intermediate units (IUs). The order also applies to early learning programs and child care providers for children ages 2 and older, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The order outlines the situations when a mask must be worn and includes limited exceptions to the face-covering requirement. The order does not apply to school sports or outdoor activities.
Failure to implement or follow the Order may subject a person to penalties under the Disease Prevention and Control Law of 1955 and exposure to personal liability.
Last week, the governor sent a letter asking Republican legislative leaders to immediately collaborate with him to pass legislation requiring mask wearing in schools and at child care facilities. Because the Republican leaders declined to act, the acting secretary is taking action to help keep students in classrooms, which is the best place for them to learn.
The departments also provided an initial series of answers to frequently asked questions about the Secretary of Healths masking order.
Deminpenn
(15,246 posts)and probably file a lawsuit to stop this based on the constitutional amendment passed during the ridiculously low turnout 2020 primary .
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)and I *think* the technicality was that the Constitutional Amendment was directed at legislative control over "disaster declarations" (which is what Wolf used for the lockdowns, etc.) which is not what this is. There is a citation of a state Public Health Law (from 1955) being used as the justification. I just added the press statement to the OP.
I.e., they are using this Authority - https://casetext.com/statute/pennsylvania-statutes/statutes-unconsolidated/title-35-ps-health-and-safety/chapter-3-prevention-of-spread-of-diseases/disease-prevention-and-control-law-of-1955
Now if the legislature wants to ditch the 66 year old Public Health law, then they will run right into a veto that they can't override.
Deminpenn
(15,246 posts)lockdowns and mask mandates thus making the constitutional amendment irrelevent for those actions. The R legislature thinks differently. My bet is that they'll sue to get a Supreme Court ruling. If they lose, well, that will be something to use to generate outrage during campaign season (and we have an open supreme court seat in Nov).
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)is currently 5(D) - 2(R), I'm not that worked up about them per se.
This is what the Amendment looks like (from this section - https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=00&div=0&chpt=4)
(a) A disaster emergency declaration may be declared by executive order or proclamation of the governor upon finding that a disaster has occurred or that the occurrence or threat of a disaster is imminent that threatens the health, safety or welfare of this commonwealth.
(b) Each disaster emergency declaration issued by the governor under subsection (a) shall indicate the nature, each area threatened and the conditions of the disaster, including whether the disaster is a natural disaster, military emergency, public health emergency, technological disaster or other general emergency, as defined by statute. The general assembly shall, by statute, provide for the manner in which each type of disaster enumerated under this subsection shall be managed.
(c) A disaster emergency declaration under subsection (a) shall be in effect for no more than twenty-one (21) days, unless otherwise extended in whole or part by concurrent resolution of the general assembly.
(d) Upon the expiration of a disaster emergency declaration under subsection (a), the governor may not issue a new disaster emergency declaration based upon the same or substantially similar facts and circumstances without the passage of a concurrent resolution of the general assembly expressly approving the new disaster emergency declaration.[8]
The text seems to suggest a focus on "the governor' where this "mandate" wasn't literally issued by Wolf at all but by Beam (as Acting Health Director).
They can try to "generate" whatever they want but they have a bunch of crazies running for Governor and we just have to focus, once more, on getting the turnout.
Deminpenn
(15,246 posts)He's a registered R. If Dems could pick up his seat, that would be great given the new CJ Max Baer, registerd D, is also getting close to mandatory retirement age (75).
It's been Wolf's contention that his lockdown and mask orders were issued by the Health Dept and therefore are not covered by this amendment.
The disaster declaration was really a seperate thing to cover the business and income losses due to covid19 and in order to get federal money to help defray the costs.
These are two seperate things but the Rs conflated them.
Even after the amendment passed, the legislature actually voted to extend the emergency declaration so to not lose federal funds.
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)because the earlier orders expired either just before or around the time the legislature voted to invoke the amendment.
The politicization that the GOP did to the emergency declarations to "own the libs" has now twisted them into a pretzel.
And I saw this in the Inquirer this morning (article from yesterday afternoon) -
by Justine McDaniel, Maddie Hanna, and Erin McCarthy
Updated Aug 31, 2021
(snip)
Minutes after Wolfs announcement, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff called the decision an ill-advised statewide mandate that deprives Pennsylvania communities of local control and community self-determination in public health decisions. He said he and fellow Republicans were weighing legal action. A lawyer for districts around Philadelphia said some school boards might consider ignoring the order.
(snip)
Pennsylvanias new order comes as many districts are already back in session and the rest are poised to start within days at the same time the variant has sent infections increasing and Americans have failed to get vaccinated quickly enough to beat it. Beam, the health secretary, said more than 5,000 Pennsylvania students had already tested positive for the virus in the first days of the school year and pointed to a 277% rise in cases among children 17 and under between mid-July and August. She said mask-optional schools are already seeing consequences, including in four different districts where football games were canceled Friday. New cases among children in day care have also increased significantly.
(snip)
A fight ahead?
The governors emergency powers to sustain a state disaster declaration were curtailed by voters in the May election, but Beam issued the mask policy under the states disease-control law, as she did with Pennsylvanias previous school and statewide mask orders. Some lawmakers were discussing the possibility of amending the disease-control act to curb the administrations power, Sen. Ryan Aument (R., Lancaster) said in a statement, while Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R., Centre) asserted Beam did not have the authority to impose any mitigation measures.
He said Wolf and his health secretary had just weeks ago been adamant about such decisions being made at the local level. It is completely disingenuous for him to flip-flop now when he didnt like the choices school districts made, Corman said. Jeff Sultanik, a lawyer who represents districts in and beyond the Philadelphia region, said he anticipated theres going to be immediately some districts will want to challenge, or not follow, the mask order. Wolf dismissed questions about the possibility of a challenge. He said he believed the desire to do the right thing and pressure from parents would lead schools to follow the mandate, despite acknowledging many chose not to adopt mask policies on their own.
(snip)
https://www.inquirer.com/news/pa-schools-mask-mandate-covid-tom-wolf-20210831.html
The abject stupidity and craveness of Corman is getting more and more breathtaking. If you leave it up to them, they would blindly, while foaming at the mouth, attempt to repeal any "Public Health" law, remove any governor unless they were a Republican, eliminate the entire Executive Branch of the state of PA (unless it was run by Republicans), institute "County" fiefdom control (except for Democratic-majority Counties that would be under the control of some designated GOP overlord) all in order to "own the libs".
Yes that is OTT but that is what this nonsense about "amending" the Public Health law bullshit suggests to me as the lengths they are willing to go to support TFG.
This is the (text of the) DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL LAW OF 1955 - https://casetext.com/statute/pennsylvania-statutes/statutes-unconsolidated/title-35-ps-health-and-safety/chapter-3-prevention-of-spread-of-diseases/disease-prevention-and-control-law-of-1955
Section 521.3 - Responsibility for disease prevention and control
(a) Local boards and departments of health shall be primarily responsible for the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable disease, including disease control in public and private schools, in accordance with the regulations of the board and subject to the supervision and guidance of the department.
(b) The department shall be responsible for the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable disease in any municipality which is not served by a local board or department of health, including disease control in public and private schools.
(c) If the secretary finds that the disease control program carried out by any local board or department of health is so inadequate that it constitutes a menace to the health of the people within or without the municipalities served by the local board or department of health, he may appoint agents of the department to supervise or to carry out the disease control program of the particular local board or department of health until he determines that the menace to the health of the people no longer exists and that the local board or department of health is able to carry out an adequate disease control program. The secretary shall require that any reasonable expenses incident to the administration of a local disease control program under this subsection, which are incurred by the department, shall be paid to the State by the local board or department of health or by the municipalities or counties which it serves.
35 P.S.§ 521.3
1956, April 23, P.L. (1955) 1510, § 3.
This section probably also applies to a degree - https://casetext.com/statute/pennsylvania-statutes/statutes-unconsolidated/title-35-ps-health-and-safety/chapter-3-prevention-of-spread-of-diseases/disease-prevention-and-control-law-of-1955/section-5215-control-measures
Current through P.A. Acts 2020-95, 2020-97 through 2020-113, and 2020-115 through 2020-140
Section 521.5 - Control measures
Upon the receipt by a local board or department of health or by the department, as the case may be, of a report of a disease which is subject to isolation, quarantine, or any other control measure, the local board or department of health or the department shall carry out the appropriate control measures in such manner and in such place as is provided by rule or regulation.
35 P.S.§ 521.5
1956, April 23, P.L. (1955) 1510, § 5.
You can clearly see how Wolf was methodically stepping through a series of escalating requests like -
"Pretty please, could you County Boards of Health institute some kind of mitigation like masking and vaccination because of this new variant?"
and then -
"Pretty please state Assembly, could you impose some sort of mitigation to include masking, vaccination, and other strategies because the case rates in the state have been escalating at an alarming level"?
all BEFORE having Beam invoke the above section of the law.
MyOwnPeace
(16,888 posts)are 'opposing it' while doing some CYA with their position: "We believe in 'local control' blah, blah, blah.........
They are playing it to the nth. degree for politics - "KIDS? LIKE WE CARE?"
FakeNoose
(32,356 posts)He did what needed to be done!
These individual school boards staging their own hostile takeovers - it was getting ridiculous. Now every school district in the state has the same mandate.
A few loonies were attacking their local school boards. This mandate stops all that nonsense.
Auggie
(31,067 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,432 posts)School started here in San Diego yesterday and they are required to wear masks inside AND outside. They interviewed various students from different grades and they all said they don't mind and it's better than learning from home and not seeing friends, playing sports and other activities, etc. The kids know the deal and accept it...it is their PARENTS who are pushing their own views (and often wrong) onto the kids.
ProfessorGAC
(64,425 posts)In fact, one private school toyed with the idea of a mask optional policy.
The state, within the law, threaten removal of state accreditation, meaning the year wouldn't count for the students.
The next day, the school released a statement that said, more or less, "We weren't really going to do it, just thought about it. Mask will be mandatory."
State called their bluff in the blink of an eye.
Around here, a school board meeting had 30 loud parents protesting masks. 30 where there are 1,300 students.
But, when the governor signed the EO, the district simply can say "We have to comply with the law."
There's been no further protesting.
And, you're right about the kids. It's been a whole year. They've gotten used to it.
bucolic_frolic
(42,676 posts)twodogsbarking
(9,308 posts)He sucks out loud.
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)Seems he wants to be the new loonier version of a Mike Turzai, but in the state Senate.
Deminpenn
(15,246 posts)Darryl Metcalfe is the loony standard for the House.
Corman's trying to walk a fine line. I think what he says is lip service to the cultists.
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)and THAT got the ball rolling for leading their party off the cliff.
This will forever be Turzai's legacy as a fucking election fraud loon -
Almost every (except some in a few swing counties) GOPer knows they have to get through the clown show primaries by talking stupid. But all it does is continue to normalize the idiocy.
Corman made a conscious decision to refuse to acknowledge that Biden won this state by embracing this crap about a "forensic audit" - after MANY state-mandated (by their original law) audits and recounts were ALREADY DONE and after multiple lawsuits were lost - both in the state and federal courts.
Look like a duck, walk like a duck, bullshit like a duck and you are a damn duck.
Deminpenn
(15,246 posts)Corman actually opposed an audit. IIRC, he also did not support the contention that Trump "won" PA.
For whatever reason, maybe election related, he has been paying more lip service to the cultists lately, but, jmho, it's only lip service and not to be taken all that seriously.
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)by: Peyton Kennedy
Posted: Aug 31, 2021 / 06:20 PM EDT / Updated: Aug 31, 2021 / 06:20 PM EDT
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) 10 months after the 2020 Presidential Election, State Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman calls for a renewed, full forensic investigation into the Pennsylvania elections process. He said the results are final, but the process needs oversight. This isnt about changing results, this is about putting a process in so we can educate ourselves so that everybody, whether youre a Republican, Democrat, whatever, has faith in the results moving forward, and thats our goal, said Senator Corman.
In Pennsylvania, President Biden defeated former President Trump by about 80,000 votes. The votes are certified, but Senator Corman said the community is still questioning the logistics. Theres certainly a large segment of the population just judging by the phone calls and the contacts that Ive received that are concerned with our last election, said Corman. He said some points of concern include removing absentee signature verification, counting ballots after election day, and creating drop boxes without security.
A lot of it was things surrounding the secretary of state and things that she did during the last election that was unprecedented, said Corman. Senate Democrats are primarily opposed to the audit, calling it unwarranted and unprecedented. Theyre going to be a part of it, and again it has to be something that they have faith in as well, said Corman. Its done through a committee process which there are Democratic members.
Corman said he has been in contact with Trump on the audit. I know hes contacted a few people including myself, but not about the details of how were doing or what were doing, just that he was interested in what was going on, said Corman.
https://www.wearecentralpa.com/news/local-news/senator-corman-calls-for-renewed-full-forensic-audit-of-2020-election-in-pennsylvania/
And this one is a beauty just published today (with quotes from the Centre County Chair of the Board of Commissioners) -
Local news
Sep 1, 2021
CHRIS MORELLI cmorelli@lockhaven.com
BELLEFONTE Almost 10 months after the presidential election, the Centre County Board of Commissioners were asked about the potential forensic investigation by the Pennsylvania Senate, which opened hearings on the matter last week. Chair Michael Pipe said that he didnt want to add any fuel to the fire during Tuesdays meeting.
From my perspective, lets wait to see what their scope is and how theyre going to go about it, Pipe said. My preference is to not add more fuel to the fire when it comes to this. My personal take is, lets just see what happens rather than starting to get into it.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Centre) has said that lawmakers will seek voting records, ballots and machines. He has suggested that the Senate will use subpoenas to get them.
Pipe was asked if he had confidence in how the 2020 election was run. Oh, yes, he said, absolutely. He said the county has not been asked to provide any election materials. No, we have not, he said matter-of-factly. Were 8, 10 months from the election. Lets see what happens and we can comment on it further.
(snip)
https://www.lockhaven.com/news/local-news/2021/09/pipe-addresses-election-audit/
He's a fucking loon.
And their lunacy will be outed and highlighted and hopefully punished like this -
Link to tweet
TEXT
@PhillyVotes
"Sanctions are required to deter the filing of future frivolous lawsuits designed primarily to spread the narrative that our election processes are rigged and our democratic institutions cannot be trusted," the judge wrote in a 110-page opinion.
Judge sanctions pro-Trump lawyers who brought 'frivolous' election fraud lawsuits
A federal judge ordered sanctions Wednesday for Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and several other lawyers who worked on Trump-aligned lawsuits seeking to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
cnn.com
8:25 PM · Aug 25, 2021
Deminpenn
(15,246 posts)but ymmv
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)as he is threatening (where that elections equipment would be de-certified by the state if ever handed over), then it is game on.