August is here again. That means school districts are preparing to enter yet another year dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

The question is just what does that mean?

It is less about Zoom classes and home schooling than it was in 2020. The issue being debated is whether students will have to mask up. So far, there isn’t a consensus — and that’s understandable at this time. The swirl of shifting information breeds varied responses.

Some schools are requiring them, like Pittsburgh Public Schools. There are those “strongly recommending” them, like Fox Chapel Area School District.

Then there are those that are a little less committed. Leechburg Area School Board is requiring masks on buses but making them optional in the buildings, with a plan passed by a vote of 7-0.

Penn-Trafford School District is in the last category — those largely repealing the protocols that have been in place for more than a year. P-T’s proposed plan won’t just roll back mask requirements. It also shrugs off social distancing and dismisses all hybrid learning in favor of directing families that still want the remote option to the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit’s e-learning.

The spectrum of directions comes from the continuation of the state Department of Education’s pattern of giving districts recommendations and guidance but leaving decisions in local hands. That does leave areas with low transmission free to do what makes sense for them, which might be different from what areas heavily impacted need.

It also reflects the push-pull of priorities for parents and educators. Some are focused on the educational and social needs of kids who already have had the last full year and a few months of the one before it disrupted by covid-19 precautions. Others are more motivated by the medical threat, especially given that vaccines still are not available for children younger than 12 — the majority of school students.

With the more contagious delta variant of the disease on the rise, making up the vast majority of new cases, many experts recommend bringing back the masks that were just retired in June for most people. The state health and education officials aren’t making their own mandates, pointing instead to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. The CDC revised its recommendations, returning to suggesting masks for indoor use once more.

Schools start in less than a month for most districts. But while they try to sort out the rules for the coming year, the infection rates that had been falling are again creeping back up. That could lead to a 2021-22 school year that suffers from the one thing that seems consistent since the pandemic began — the fact that everything keeps changing too fast to make plans.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)