State Sen. Katie Muth Thanks School Districts For Masking; Urges Others Institute Policies

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — A state lawmaker is praising area school districts for their decisions to mandate masks for students and staff during this upcoming school year, while urging other districts who haven’t already done so to follow suit and implement such policies.

State Sen. Katie Muth, D-44, recently sent letters to the school districts in her legislative district that have mandated universal face coverings for the 2021-22 school year to help combat rising COVID-19 infection rates.

In Montgomery County – her district covers parts of both Montco and Chester County – Muth praised the Methacton School District in Lower Providence, the Perkiomen Valley School District in Perkiomen Township, and the Norristown Area School District for implementing mask policies for the upcoming school year.

Muth says she favors mask-wearing because it is a “safe and effective way to protect against COVID-19.

“Parents from throughout our district and across the Commonwealth have contacted our office supporting our efforts to make classrooms safe,” Muth states on her state website. “They have serious concerns about the health of their children and for good reason – pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations are higher this month than any other throughout the entire pandemic. This is a frightening, contagious and potentially deadly virus that needs to be taken seriously.”

In addition to the Montgomery County districts she heaped praise on for their universal masking policies, Muth also singled out a handful of Chester County school districts that are within the 44th Senatorial District who have implemented similar polices for the start of school. They are: Downingtown Area School District, Phoenixville Area School District, Coatesville Area School District and Owen J. Roberts School District.

Meanwhile, Muth sent a separate letter last week to school institutions in her senatorial district that have not yet implemented a mask-wearing policy for the coming school year. She is urging them to consider instituting universal masking for the 2021-22 school year.

“Your decisions must prioritize the health and safety of all students and staff and, in turn, the health and safety of your district’s larger community,” Muth wrote in the letter, which was sent on Aug. 19 to the superintendents of the Boyertown Area School District, the Spring-Ford Area School District, the Twin Valley School District, the Daniel Boone Area School District and the Pottsgrove School District.

Muth said in the letter that this is not the time for school districts to “do what may be politically expedient or to leave this decision to individual parents and their preferences.

“It is vital that we have our children back in the classroom and to do that we must do everything we can to make classrooms safe,” Muth wrote to the holdout districts. “Your health and safety policy should seek to protect your district community as a whole. One person’s choice to not wear a mask puts others at risk and the role of your policy should be to minimize that risk.”

To the school districts that did adopt universal masking for the coming school year, Muth offered words of thanks, saying the decision was the right one in the name of public health.

“Thank you again for doing what is necessary to create a safe and healthy school environment that will enable our students to safely return to in-person learning,” she wrote to the districts. “I genuinely appreciate your service and your efforts to do what is best for your respective school district communities.”