Governor Wolf? School boards? Who is to blame for the lack of mandatory masks for children in Pennsylvania?

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A tension across Pennsylvania has been exposed. Should schools and daycares require everyone to wear masks indoors, per CDC guidelines? Most are not, which frustrates some parents who argue that Governor Wolf should do them.

“Eli is two years old,” said Tori Levine, mother of two. She also has seven-year-old Ruben, a chronically ill second-grader. “So he’s more at risk,” Levine said.

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Equally high is Tori’s level of frustration. She does not understand why the school officials and the governor do not demand masks. Here is the official position of the Wolf administration. “We strongly urge schools to comply with the CDC’s new K-12 masking guidelines,” said Acting Department of Health Secretary Alison Beam.

But urging strongly isn’t strong enough for Tori when the CDC unequivocally says schools should enforce masks. So why aren’t they?

“If they say this is necessary for everyone’s safety, I don’t know why the governor suddenly says everything is fine, we are going to have confidence that everyone is going to do the right thing”, Levine said.

“We have never been a supporter of a government mandate,” said House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R). He says disgruntled parents should complain to their school boards which control the mask policy. “We tried to leave the decisions to the locals,” said Representative Benninghoff.

Of the nearly 28,000 deaths from COVID in Pennsylvania, fewer than 15 are in children under the age of 15. Statistically nonexistent. But the virus is still there. Children like Ruben are always vulnerable, and Tori says that without the government forcing people to wear masks, most people won’t.

“If people could be trusted to do the right thing for public safety, there wouldn’t be a need for a warrant, but I think there is a need for a warrant,” said Levine.

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CDC guidelines say anyone over two years of age who is not vaccinated should wear a mask. This means that daycares should have children who carry them.

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