© Octavio Jones/Getty ImagesFamilies protest any potential mask mandates before the Hillsborough County Schools Board meeting held at the district office on July 27, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Friday that the acting state health secretary did not have the authority to issue a mask mandate for K-12 schools in the state and threw it out.
Pennsylvania's state
Supreme Court Friday ruled to invalidate a mask mandate for K-12 schools and child care facilities that was issued by the state's acting health secretary,
leaving the decision of requiring masks for students in the hands of school districts.The decision to throw out the mandate was made as cases have risen over 20 percent over the past two weeks, with an average of over 4,000 hospitalizations per day, which is a 55 percent increase since the middle of November.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that nursing homes and some hospitals are overwhelmed due to the increase in cases and staff shortages.
The state Supreme Court
upheld a lower court ruling that said the state's acting health secretary Alison Beam didn't have the authority to require masks without an existing disaster emergency declaration from the governor, a decision Gov. Tom Wolf's press secretary Beth Rementer called "extremely disappointing," according to
The Associated Press.
"The administration recognizes that many school districts want to ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for students and staff, and we are hopeful they will make appropriate mitigation decisions moving forward," Rementer said.
Comment: Someone in the upper echelons of Facebook/Meta talking sense about rampant censorship? Making comments about the necessity of free speech? To good to be true?
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