Pennsylvania reverses course, will issue mask mandate for K-12 schools

After initially resisting issuing a statewide school mask mandate, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) reversed course Tuesday and said that facial coverings will now be required at K-12 schools, early learning programs and child care centers. 

The governor announced the move in a press conference, arguing that the “aggressive delta variant has changed everything for us,” and that while Pennsylvania has a relatively high vaccination rate compared to some other states, the recent surges in cases could pose strains on local health care systems. 

“My office has received an outpouring of messages from parents asking the administration to protect all children by requiring masks in schools,” Wolf said in a statement. 

“The science is clear,” he added. “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,” he argued. 

Effective September 7, masks will be required in schools and early learning and childcare programs in Pennsylvania.

This will keep our students safer and in the classroom, where we all want them to be.

— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) August 31, 2021

Experts overwhelmingly agree that wearing a mask in school is necessary to keep kids in the classroom and COVID out.

And the majority of Americans agree, too.

It’s time to put politics aside and get back to what matters: Keeping students safe and in the classroom.

— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) August 31, 2021

Wolf noted that while he would have “preferred for local school boards to make this decision,” he wished to combat what he called an “aggressive nationwide campaign” consisting of “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,” he added. 

Wolf had said in a press briefing earlier this month that “the school districts in Pennsylvania have to decide what they want to do” in terms of requiring masks. 

“The CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines ‘strongly recommend’ that schools do that,” he said at the time. “They’re not mandating it, and neither am I.”

As of Tuesday, roughly 69 percent of Pennsylvania’s total population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with about 55 percent fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. 

Wolf’s mandate comes amid a nationwide debate between state governments and local districts over the authority to implement mask requirements among students, who under the age of 12 are not eligible to receive any of the COVID-19 vaccines either fully approved or authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. 

The disputes have culminated in legal battles in states including Texas and Florida, where the Department of Education announced Monday that it was withholding funds from two school districts in the Sunshine State for not giving parents the option to opt out of their mask mandates, violating an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).