With a growing number of teachers and support staff falling ill, the Bucks County district has developed a “yellow alert” virtual learning plan for days when schools aren't sufficiently staffed.
The governor said that, on Jan. 17, he expects to turn over decisions about masking to local school officials. The state's universal masking requirement for early learning programs and child care facilities will remain in place.
An obscure state panel voted 7-4 that Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam's Aug. 31 mask order for K-12 schools and child care facilities did not have to be enacted as a regulation.
The law would allow parents and guardians to overrule any mask mandate imposed by the state Department of Health, a local health department, or a school board.
As coronavirus case numbers continue to climb, especially among school-aged children, Republicans want to end the mask requirement in schools and daycares.
Unvaccinated people and those who have yet to be fully vaccinated had seven times the risk of contracting the virus and nearly eight times the risk of death as those offered full protection by a vaccine, according to the data.