TREVORTON, Pa. — As students get ready to go back to school, many are wondering if they must wear a mask. The Line Mountain School Board voted unanimously to leave that decision up to students and their parents. The district is not requiring students and staff to wear masks in buildings or buses for the upcoming school year.
"I think it's great that they're just going to leave it up to the parents. I mean, it's our children, and we should be able to decide what to do with our children," Betty Shingara said.
Betty Shingara was at the school board meeting. She has four daughters in the district and says convincing her youngest to wear a mask to school was hard.
"She'd get irritated. She didn't want to wear them. She couldn't breathe right. It was just a big mess and a big fight with her every morning to go to school," Shingara said.
Hours before the school board made its decision, The Centers for Disease Control updated its guidance to recommend everyone in schools wear masks regardless of vaccination status.
"Some kids in our school aren't old enough to get vaccinated, you should wear them if you aren't vaccinated, but if you are vaccinated, you should have a choice whether or not you want to wear them," said Gabby Berger, a junior at Line Mountain High School.
"I think the school board made the right decision," Kimberly Maro said.
Kimberly Maro is Gabby's mom. She is happy students will be able to make their own decisions regarding masks.
"I think we're in a small enough school district and a small enough town where we pretty much know our guidelines, and we've been through this for a whole year, and I think it's very distracting, and I don't think they should have to wear masks," Maro said.
Line Mountain's safety plan will also encourage social distancing, proper handwashing, and additional cleaning.