Hampton votes to approve masks for younger students

Hampton elementary students, and those in sixth grade at the middle school, will be required to wear masks when classes begin Aug. 26.

School board members voted 8-1 on Aug. 9 to approve the district’s health and safety plan, which includes a mask mandate for elementary staff and visitors.

The guidelines pertain to indoors only.

Joy Midgley was the lone board member to vote against the plan.

“The CDC’s guidance is a recommendation,” she said. “Therefore, I believe the parents should be given the option as to whether they want their child to follow the recommendation.”

Superintendent Michael Loughead said that sixth graders were included in the masking plan because a majority are not 12 years old and therefore, not able to be vaccinated.

“An analysis of the age of the district’s sixth grade students showed that the majority of students are not eligible to receive the vaccine at the start of the school year and only half are eligible by January 2022,” he said.

As of Aug. 2, Allegheny County moved into the substantial level of transmission of covid-19 cases.

If the county shifts back to low transmission status, the district will consult with health experts and reevaluate the policy, Communications Specialist Zach D’Amico said.

He added that the decision to require masking for students younger than 12, and staff, was guided by the CDC’s latest recommendations and consultations with the county health department regarding the county’s substantial spread of covid-19 spurred by the Delta variant.

“We are placing an emphasis on prioritizing the safety of our younger students, who are not yet eligible to receive vaccinations,” Loughead said.

Unvaccinated students in seventh through 12th grades, along with staff, teachers and visitors are strongly recommended to wear masks, according to board policy.

Masking mandates could quickly change as covid-19 rates evolve, D’Amico said.

“If conditions warrant, masks may be required for both vaccinated and unvaccinated students, staff and visitors,” he said.

The district will open with five-day, in-person instruction as well as offering an online option.