Pittsburgh Public Schools administrators again have recommended the district remove its mask mandate — with some stipulations.
Last month the board pushed back a vote on changing the masking policy in favor of waiting until after the spring break. Now, the administration has proposed that masks be optional unless Allegheny County is at a “high level” of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC changed its metrics for determining a community’s risk level in February. Rather than only using total case numbers, the new categories are based on transmission and hospital capacity. That move put most counties at a low level of risk, which led most local districts to remove mask mandates.
This month the Philadelphia School District returned its masking requirement, straying from CDC guidance.
Pittsburgh board member Pam Harbin noted that move during the board’s agenda review meeting on Monday. She said that following the CDC guidance would mean that students and staff would go without masks until COVID-19 hospitalizations increase dramatically in the county.
“To me, the question is, when do the masks go back on? And in my judgment, waiting until the CDC community level is high is too late because that is when the hospitals are overrun,” Harbin said.
In a lengthy back and forth with administrators and the district's contracted physician, Harbin took issue with the district’s plan to educate students who must isolate or quarantine. The plan calls for teachers to provide activities and assignments for students out of school, but the memorandum of understanding with the teacher’s union does not require teachers to instruct students virtually.
With masks removed, Harbin noted that more students could be spending time out of school.
“We’ve had a lot of students missing out on their education,” she said. “We don’t have instruction for kids when they’re home.”
Board member Gene Walker said that the board must trust the expertise of the administration and the work it’s doing to follow CDC guidelines.
Other board members mentioned thinking about the most vulnerable students and staff and how to protect them from the virus.
Board member Tracey Reid said that there’s an opportunity to revisit virtual learning processes.
“I don’t know that the burden of that should be placed on our current classroom teachers, but I do think it’s something that we as a district should think seriously about,” she said.
The board will vote on the updated health and safety plan during its legislative meeting on Wednesday. The public can weigh in Monday during the monthly public hearing. Both meetings can be streamed at pghschools.org.
