The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has released more information on its rationale concerning why they rejected an order from the Wolf administration that required masks be worn in K-12 schools and child care centers.
Reports say that the 58-page opinion released yesterday did not discuss whether individual districts had the legal authority to require masks, but the justices said that the PA Department of Health did not have the legal justification to put the mask mandate in place as it came outside of a disaster declaration from the Governor’s office. The justices did say that while the Department of Health does have broad authority to protect the public’s health, it does not allow the department to “act by whim or fiat in all matters concerning disease” without specific regulations that would allow a mask mandate to be put in place.
On December 10th, the Supreme Court ruled 6-0 to end the statewide mask mandate immediately and return the decision to the local school districts. Since then, many districts have made put their own mask polices into place. Many districts in our area are not requiring masks, but are strongly suggesting them. Some, like the Indiana School District, are also fine-tuning those mandates.
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