Abington School District Relaxes Mask Mandate Until Thursday Board Meeting

ABINGTON, PA — Students in the Abington School District will no longer be subject to a universal masking mandate in light of a change in guidance at the federal level.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey S. Fecher released a community notice on Monday saying that effective immediately, the district would be relaxing its mask policy until the school board revisits the issue of masking at its meeting scheduled for Thursday.

Fecher said the district made the decision after a change in guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC recently implemented changes with regard to indoor masking after a drop in COVID-19 infection rates.

Fecher made his announcement on Monday late afternoon, and by Monday evening the school board president, Shameeka Browne, put out her own statement clarifying that Fecher had made the school directors aware of the district's decision prior to informing the public.

"I believe his intent was to support teachers and administrators in maintaining an orderly learning environment for students, and that there was a sense of urgency in this matter that prompted him to make this decision," Browne wrote in her statement.

An agenda was not yet publicly available on the school district website as of Wednesday afternoon, but Fecher's announcement seemed to indicate that the school board would likely be revisiting the district's health and safety plan at its Thursday session, just as many other districts in Montgomery County have been doing following the change in CDC recommendations.