Mask Mandate Dropped For New Hope-Solebury Schools, Starting March 7

NEW HOPE, PA — In a highly-attended school board meeting Thursday night, the New Hope-Solebury Board of School Directors voted 8-1 to approve a mask-optional health and safety plan. The new plan will take effect March 7.

The New Hope-Solebury School District was one of few area districts to maintain its indoor mask mandate the entire 2021-2022 school year. But the district's health and safety committee decided to reassess their masking policies following a steady decline in COVID-19 cases locally, after the omicron surge.

In a health and safety presentation to the board, a representative for the committee explained that the change was recommended because of increased ventilation and outdoor activities possible in the spring; other public spaces regionally no longer requiring masks; mask and compliance fatigue making enforcement difficult; and mask-optional policies "maximiz[ing] learning opportunities and minimiz[ing] instructional disruptions."

Community members in favor of a mask-optional policy for the school district dominated public comment. Some called on the board to institute the policy Friday, rather than waiting until March 7 — a decision the board said was based in a desire to allow parents to find alternate education arrangements as well as to offset the spread that tends to happen after school holidays.

“Make it 2/28," one woman said. "I’m asking you to make it 2/28.”

Other residents asked for an earlier date because of the high school spirit week planned for next week.

"Running spirit week has been the most stressful thing of my life, last year and this year, regardless of COVID but [especially] with COVID and the mask mandate," a high school student representative said. "We've had to edit every single event, and it is made my life and everyone else's life so much harder."

One community member who runs a gym in New Hope called the state-mandated health and safety plan “a blueprint for abusing our kids mentally, physically, and emotionally.”

Others expressed gratitude to the board for their leadership on health and safety issues thus far.

“You’ve done a great job, so I trust your decision tonight and I just want to say thank you," a teacher told the board.

One parent, who undergoes chemotherapy, said she and her family do not go anywhere unmasked because of her high risk for COVID-19.

“It totally sucks. I get the fatigue," she said, going on to say, “My kids are terrified. They’re terrified of getting me sick."

The well-attended meeting was also not without its tension.

"There’s a large crowd here tonight and we welcome civil public commentary," board president Judeth Finn said to open the meeting.

She also told community members that those who were unmasked, and commenters who violated policies prohibiting personally-directed or offensive speech, would be asked to leave the meeting.

Several people were told to leave throughout the course of the meeting for violating the mask policy. When Finn asked one commenter, whose mask was not fully covering his nose, to leave, another community member called her a "Nazi" from the audience.

“Whoever called me a Nazi may leave as well,” Finn said.

Ultimately, the board voted 8-1 to approve the plan, with vice president Dana Schwartz voting against the changes.

The mask-optional plan, in effect Thursday, also means a change in the district's ability to contact trace; unmasked, unvaccinated students who were within six feet of a COVID-positive person will no longer be quarantined (unless they test positive or are symptomatic) since the contact tracing would be "impossible," according to the presentation Thursday night.

The district will still keep families informed about new cases at the classroom and building level.

The full health and safety plan is available here.

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