Peters school board upholds mask mandate

At a meeting that lasted more than five hours on Wednesday, the Peters Township school board voted 6-3 to uphold the district’s universal masking requirement for anyone in district buildings.

Board members Minna Allison, Lisa Anderson, Rebecca Bowman, Ronald Dunleavy, Jennifer Grossman and Daniel Taylor voted in favor of the mask mandate. Rolf Briegel, Joseph Deegan and Thomas McMurray voted against requiring masks.

The meeting, which was held in the Peters Township High School auditorium, was attended by more than 200 people, with dozens making public comments prior to the board’s vote.

Wednesday’s vote reaffirmed an Aug. 16 board vote requiring masks in district buildings regardless of vaccination status. At that meeting, Ms. Allison, Ms. Bowman, Mr. Dunleavy, Mr. Taylor and Ms. Grossman voted in favor of requiring masks while Ms. Anderson, Mr. McMurray, Mr. Deegan and Mr. Briegel dissented.

According to the district, masks are being required to “prioritize in-person learning and minimize exclusions from school, school closures and disruptions to athletics/ extracurricular activities.”

Last school year, students were considered to be in close contact if they were within 6 feet of a COVID-19-infected individual for more than 15 minutes and excluded from school even if they were wearing a mask at the time. The current guidelines allow for students to remain in school and not have to quarantine if both the infected and exposed individuals are wearing masks.

After the Aug. 16 meeting, a group of Peters Township residents filed a complaint in Washington County Court of Common Pleas against the five board

members who voted in favor of the mandate at that time. Shelly Belcher, the district’s communications coordinator, is also named in the suit.

The district offered this statement on the matter:

“The district is aware of these filings, and we are prepared to vigorously contest the allegations.

“The board has continuously engaged with community partners and stakeholders throughout the pandemic regarding its related challenges. Although at times difficult, the district has consistently taken steps to provide and protect an open decision making process for its citizens consistent with the Sunshine Law.

We continue to do so now. Prior to any litigation, the district organized and advertised a special voting meeting ... to ensure that all residents could, again, address their elected officials on recent board business in a larger forum.”