PITTSBURGH — The majority of students and staff members in Pittsburgh Public Schools will soon be able to forgo wearing masks in school buildings under certain circumstances for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school board voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to change the district's health and safety plan to make masking optional when the community level of COVID-19 in Allegheny County is considered to be low under federal guidelines.
The district said the new policy will begin sometime next week, on a date that will soon be determined. Additionally, there will still be times that masking will be necessary even if the community level is low, which is the level where Allegheny County currently stands.
The new plan would have gone into effect immediately, but board member Pam Harbin requested additional time so schools can communicate with families and make accommodations for immunocompromised children and students with disabilities.
"It is a critical protection for in-person learning for (some) students," Harbin said. "So my ask is that we please inform these families first and not just turn the switch tomorrow because that may be doing a disservice, and those students just won't be able to come to school and I don't think that that's right."
In some cases, it may be necessary for a class or even an entire school to wear masks so that immunocompromised students can take part in in-person instruction, Harbin said. Those instances would be determined on a case-by-case basis, according to district solicitor Ira Weiss.
In addition, the district's COVID-19 response team, in consultation with the district physician and the Allegheny County Health Department may recommend more stringent masking measures in response to an outbreak. The district has not defined what exactly constitutes as an outbreak.
Students and staff members will also have to wear masks when returning to school after a COVID-19 quarantine.
The district initially proposed a mask-optional policy when Allegheny County reached a low or medium level of COVID-19 back in February, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines to use hospital capacity as a key figure in calculating the threat the coronavirus poses to a community.
The CDC said at the time that it would be safe for schools to go mask-optional when the community level was low or medium. The agency noted, however, that each school should make the decision based on its individual circumstances.
Some board members expressed concern over the number of students who have missed out on instruction because they had to quarantine even while masks were required. The district does not have a synchronous learning option for students who have to quarantine this year, and no online option is available for students in kindergarten through third grade.
Board member Jamie Piotrowski introduced the amendment to the district's proposal to make masks required again if the community reaches the medium level.
"I think that this is a good compromise," Piotrowski said. "As the level does get to medium, it seems inevitable that it would get to high. So (I am) trying to be a little bit more preventative so that there aren't crazy COVID explosions in our schools."
All southwestern Pennsylvania counties, and most of the United States, were placed in the low level when the CDC released its new guidelines in February. Under the metrics the CDC previously used, Allegheny County's community transmission rate would be considered high.
The board voted to approve Piotrowski's amendment 5-3. In addition to Piotrowski, Harbin, Tracey Reed, Devon Taliaferro and Sala Udin voted in favor of the change. Bill Gallagher, Gene Walker and Sylvia Wilson voted against it. Kevin Carter was absent.
The board later approved the health and safety plan, which included the mask policy, by a vote of 8-0.
Up until Wednesday, Pittsburgh Public Schools was one of the few districts in the region where students and staff members were required to wear masks most of the time. Many local districts quickly moved to end their mask mandates after the CDC released its new metrics in February.
The board previously discussed changing the mask policy in March when it allowed performing arts students to go maskless during performances.
Community members have been divided on the issue of masking while speaking at public hearings before board members over the past two months.
The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, which represents teachers and other staff members in the district, said it was receptive to the idea of the district going mask optional.
