Simplified: Harrisburg students and teachers will continue to wear masks in schools for at least another two weeks after the school board voted 3-2 to extend the current rules until April 27.
Why it matters
- With only about a month left in the school year, board members discussed wanting to stay the course and at least keep the mask rules through prom.
- The extra two weeks also gives teachers more time to get vaccinated and develop full immunity after their second vaccine shots, Superintendent Tim Graf noted.
- Masks have been required since mid-November.
Tell me more
Before the vote, Graf asked board members to consider continuing to require masks on school buses, in the lunch line and in music class when kids are singing.
He also thanked the board for making mask decisions without getting political.
"It's a difficult issue. It's an issue that I don't think any of us truly know some of the details surrounding," Graf said, adding that both studies and health care professionals do point to the efficacy of masks.
Board members voted to extend with minimal discussion and no public input.
What happens next?
School board members will reevaluate the mask protocol again in their April 26 meeting.
