End Date Of PA School Mask Mandate Set By Court

PENNSYLVANIA — The temporary stay on removing the school mask mandate in Pennsylvania has been lifted, the Commonwealth Court ruled on Tuesday. The mandate will officially no longer be in effect starting on Dec. 4, returning control over the issue to local school districts.

The stay was put in place automatically when the state immediately filed an appeal of the court's decision last week. While the appeal is still pending — it will be heard before Pennsylvania's Supreme Court in December — the order will, at least temporarily, be lifted.

"Allowing an order to remain in force indefinitely during the pendency of an appeal...(that) affects the lives and behavior of all those entering School Entities, would constitute an irreparable harm to the citizenry of the Commonwealth," Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon wrote.

The only thing that could prevent the stay from being lifted is if the Supreme Court issues a new ruling before Dec. 4, overruling the decision of the lower Commonwealth Court.

The Commonwealth Court ruled that Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam did not have the power to unilaterally issue the mandate in the absence of a public health emergency. She also did not follow correct procedure in issuing the order, the court said.

The move came shortly after Gov. Wolf said the mandate would be lifted and control over that decision would be returned to local school districts come Jan. 17, 2022.