Mask mandates are up to Ohio schools — but Valley districts are in no rush to decide

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Health is expected to release its guidance for mitigating COVID-19 in schools today.

During a news conference Monday, ODH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff explained the state is making three recommendations: that eligible people get vaccinated, unvaccinated people mask up and schools implement additional safety measures, like distancing.

"We are building upon the layered prevention strategies that were remarkably effective at controlling COVID-19 last school year, along with the addition of encouraging COVID vaccines that are now available and authorized for those who are 12 or older," Vanderhoff said.

Notably absent from Vanderhoff's outline of the guidance were mandates.

School districts will have to make these calls. They'll also bear the burden of enforcing them and managing any ire they cause.

"Our mask recommendation is based in science, but it's not a mandate," Vanderhoff said Monday. "To those districts that do not follow a recommendation to mask for the unvaccinated, remember that parents can still choose to have their children wear a mask in school or while participating in school activities."

Conflicting guidance

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its safety recommendations for the upcoming school year.

It requires unvaccinated people to wear masks indoors and in crowded settings where physical distance can't be maintained.

Just days before, American Academy of Pediatrics issued more conservative guidance.

The organization recommends everyone older than age 2 to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

Universal masking is "the most effective strategy to create consistent messages and expectations among students without the added burden of needing to monitor everyone's vaccination status," said Sarah Bode, chairperson-elect of the AAP Council on School Health Executive Committee.

Amid the conflicting guidance, some cities are taking matters into their own hands.

Last week, Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C., announced plans to require all students to mask up at school this fall.

District decisions

Only a few Ohio school districts have decided how to keep students safe as they return to in-person learning this fall.

Last week, Columbus City Schools announced its students will be required to mask up. Cleveland Metropolitan School District announced students and staff will be required to wear masks for the first five weeks of school.

But here in the Mahoning Valley, districts aren't ready to make those calls.

Mahoning County administrators are set to talk about masks in schools at a Wednesday meeting with the Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio, said Traci Hostetler, executive director.

David Cappuzzello, superintendent of Austintown Local Schools, the county's second-largest school district, said in a statement Monday officials are "pretty happy" with the state health department's guidance announcement.

"We will continue to monitor their recommendations as we get closer to the beginning of the school year," he said.

As of Monday, there is no mask mandate at Boardman Local Schools, said Boardman school board member Jeff Barone.

The district takes its lead "from the governor, Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Department of Health and Mahoning County Health Department," Barone said. "Stay tuned, I guess."

Likewise, Youngstown City Schools, the county's largest school district, intends to decide on masks closer to the school year, spokesperson Denise Dick previously told Mahoning Matters.

Warren City Schools Board President Patricia Limperos told Mahoning Matters that officials are "not ready to discuss anything with the media" about masks in the upcoming school year and are instead awaiting instruction from the Trumbull County Combined Health District.

No meetings with county health officials have been set, she said.

Delta's rampage

Discussions of school safety take place as the highly contagious delta variant drives up COVID-19 cases across the United States.

On Friday, every state reported more COVID-19 cases last week than the week prior, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Ohio's average coronavirus test positivity rate has nearly tripled since late June when the state reported an all-time low of 1.3 percent positivity.

The state's rate of cases per 100,000 reported over two weeks is also on the rise.

After reaching a low of about 17 cases per 100,000 people, that rate has risen to nearly 46 cases per 100,000.

With the fall semester around the corner, state health officials continue to warn Ohioans that children — because most are ineligible to get vaccinated — are not immune to COVID-19.

"While children are less likely than adults to get severely ill from COVID-19, they're not invincible and most certainly can and do have the risk of becoming ill. Just like adults, children get sick from COVID-19. They spread it to others, and some suffer severe outcomes," Vanderhoff said.

In addition to mitigating COVID-19 spread in the classroom, wearing masks in classrooms will prevent unvaccinated students from infecting parents or teachers who may not be able to get the shot, said Pediatrician Dr. Patty Manning-Courtney of Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

— Reporter Justin Dennis contributed to this report.

This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Mask mandates are up to Ohio schools — but Valley districts are in no rush to decide."