Delaware County’s school districts are wrestling with whether or not to lift a mask mandate in their schools, writes Maddie Hanna for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling ended state mask mandate requirements in schools, pushing it back on local districts.

 Response to masking varies from district to district.

Some immediately allowed students to go mask-less.

 The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District decided to make masks optional Feb. 7 if virus case counts are less than 2% for the previous two weeks. That could change if there is a surge.

Ridley no longer requires masks but recommends them after families said they wanted a choice in masking.

David Rubin, CHOP PolicyLab’s executive director, said masks should be required “until at least after the holiday,” once cases are declining.

PolicyLab noted in a blog that “children have been asked to shoulder a tremendous burden” during the pandemic, and “concerns about mental health and the impacts of prolonged periods of restrictions are increasingly important.”

Schools could get back to normal if vaccination rates were higher, Rubin said. Only about 20% of children ages 5 to 11 are vaccinated in the region.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about local school district approaches to mask-wearing now that a state mandate has ended.

Here’s a news report on how some districts in our region are responding to the end of state mask mandates in schools.