Two Montco School Districts Reinstate Mandatory Masking In Buildings

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Two school districts in eastern Montgomery County are now once again requiring students, staff and visitors to wear face masks after the county was placed back into the "high" category for COVID-19 transmission.

Both the Cheltenham School District and the Lower Merion School District issued communications to families that they would once again be mandating that masks be worn by all inside school buildings as a mitigation measure against rising coronavirus rates.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday placed Montgomery County back into the "high" community level on its COVID-19 Data Tracker.

In a letter to families that was posted online, Cheltenham School District Superintendent Brian Scriven wrote that the district would return to mandatory universal masking beginning on Friday.

Scriven noted that the Montgomery County Office of Public Health recommends masking indoors and on public transportation when a community is in the "high" category.

"Please remember to send your child to school with a mask. If your child doesn't have a mask, they are available in the nurse's suite," Scriven wrote in his correspondence. "Once the county has returned to 'medium' on the data tracker, the district will pivot back to 'mask recommended.'"

Similarly, officials with the Lower Merion School District said masking would once again be required in school buildings and on district buses after the change to "high" community transmission level.

Mandatory masking in that district also began again on Friday.

"Please discuss this change with students and send them to school with their mask," the district posted to Facebook. "Thank you for your ongoing cooperation in helping to keep our community health."

The neighboring counties of Bucks, Chester and Delaware were also back in the "high" category as of Thursday while Philadelphia was classified as "medium."