Students and staff in Lehighton Area School District will be wearing masks when the 2021-22 school year begins Sept. 7. Lehighton’s school board approved the change, by a 4-3 vote, in the district’s health and safety plan Monday night.

“Employees and students will comply with U.S. Centers for Disease Control/Pennsylvania Department of Health masking guidance/requirements,” the revised health and safety plan reads. “At this time, masks will be required by all staff and students indoors during the school day and during classroom-related activities prior or after school such as remediation or tutoring. Students will not be required to wear masks in school-related outdoor activities. Local and state data will be reevaluated on a monthly basis to determine universal masking requirements.”

Lehighton’s board heard over an hour of comments on the controversial topic, most of them coming from a group of parents who held signs outside the administration building before the meeting advocating against a mask mandate.

Lisa Neff, a mother of five in the district, said children are at extremely low risk for hospitalization and death from COVID-19, including the delta variant.

“Mask mandates do not reduce the transmission of the virus,” Neff said. “I can live with it on the bus, or even in the hallways passing one another, but if they are sitting there at their desks facing forward, why can’t they have the choice to not wear it.”

Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said the recommendation came from Lehighton’s administration after numerous meetings and consultation with local health officials.

“As recently as today, I submitted a paper to the school board from St. Luke’s and other local medical agencies recommending universal mask coverings do take place,” Cleaver said. “None of us want to be sitting here having this discussion. This will be re-evaluated at every board meeting. We’ll have some data next month from the start of school and we hope that’s in our favor and we can make a different recommendation.”

The decision didn’t sit well with parent Natalie Hearn.

“Children can’t show their facial expressions when they have a mask on,” she said. “They could be sad, something could be going on that could otherwise be caught and we’re not going to know it because they have a mask on.”

Voting for the updated health and safety plan were Larry Stern, Rita Spinelli, Nathan Foeller and Stephen Holland. In opposition were David Bradley, Richard Beltz and Gail Maholick. Wayne Wentz and Joy Beers were absent.

“I have three children in the district and I don’t like wearing masks myself,” Foeller said. “I spent five hours this weekend researching statistics and data, talking to people and looking for a way that I could vote in good conscience that my children wouldn’t have to wear masks in school. The last few weeks, we have seen big changes in statistics so I think we did need to slow down and make sure we are making the right decision. It is the responsible decision right now.”

After the vote, Beltz and Bradley packed up and left the meeting.

“We lack the information concerning our authority as a board to mandate masking and this should be tabled until that can be ascertained by our legal counsel,” Bradley said. “This should be a personal, parental decision.”

The move comes one month after Lehighton officials adopted a health and safety plan that made mask-wearing optional, regardless of vaccination status.

According to the health and safety plan, the district will implement physical distancing strategies, modified classroom layouts, desk spacing, use of multiple entrances/exits, locker usage will be permitted, removal of nonessential classroom furniture to the greatest extent feasible.

“Students and employees will be encouraged to maintain physical distance to the maximum extent feasible and appropriate when eating and drinking,” the plan continues. “To the greatest extent possible, instruction and activities will occur outside weather permitting.”

Lehighton will continue to notify the Pennsylvania Department of Health immediately upon learning that a person with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19 is present at the school or a school event while infectious. It will work collaboratively with the DOH staff on matters related to risk assessment, isolation and quarantine recommendations, and other infection control recommendations.

A community vaccination clinic was held on Aug. 12, and second doses are scheduled to be administered on Sept. 2. Another vaccination clinic is scheduled in October 2021.

Visitors to district buildings, according to the plan, will be required to have an appointment and wear a mask.

A petition on the change.org website, asking Lehighton’s board to require masks until all children can be vaccinated and community spread of COVID-19 is extremely low, had 88 signatures as of Monday night. On the flip side, a counter-petition on the 36-member “Lehighton Parents Against Mask Mandates” Facebook page had 279 signatures.