Yesterday marked another concerning development for the PA school mask mandate. A Pennsylvania judge said that the order that requires masks inside K-12 schools and child care facilities must expire on December 4th (a little over 2 weeks from now, right after Thanksgiving after many families have been traveling). This would mean that the masking decision falls solely on the school districts 6 weeks earlier than Gov. Wolf's original date of January 17th.

Per NBC10, "The ruling by Commonwealth Court Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon comes a week after her court threw out the statewide mask mandate, and it lifts the automatic suspension of that decision granted when Gov. Tom Wolf's administration appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Cannon's ruling, in theory, gives time for the state Supreme Court to take up the case, or for Wolf's administration to write and enact a mask mandate through an emergency regulation."

Europe is experiencing another serious surge in cases, with many countries re-implementing strict mitigation protocols. Cases have begun to increase again in the United States as we head into the winter months, when coronaviruses thrive.

Now is not the time to ease up on masking, especially if we want our children to be able to remain safely in-person in school. Masks and vaccinations work, so let's make sure we stay the course.

What can you do?

Contact Governor Wolf today and implore him to write and enact an mask mandate through an emergency regulation.

Phone number: 717-787-2500
Online form: https://www.governor.pa.gov/contact/#OnlineForm

As always, thank you for helping to keep our kids and our community as safe as possible.