The requirement for Seneca Valley students to wear masks to school ends next Monday, when masks will become optional.

The requirement for Seneca Valley students to wear masks to school ends next Monday, when masks will become optional.

The school board approved the action at their Monday night meeting.

Seneca Valley was the only district in the county that still required masks, which several parents decried during the meeting’s public comment session.

The board was presented with three options in making masks optional in its nine schools.

The first option saw the requirement kick in Tuesday, the second on Feb. 21 and the third on Feb. 28.

Initially, many board members were prepared to vote for the first option so masks would become optional immediately.

But board member Leslie Bredl suggested teachers should have some time to prepare for the change and parents should have time to discuss it with students.

Bredl also worried that families who were unaware that a change was made by the board would not know they could send their children to school without masks today, if that option were approved.

“We need a grace period to communicate this (change),” Bredl said.

Board members Jim Nickel and Mike Jacobs expressed support for the option that would drop the mask requirement immediately, but voted in favor of the change to optional masking on Feb. 21.

The only dissenting vote came from Tim Hester, who did not divulge his reasoning for voting against making masks optional on Feb. 21.

The option approved by the board originally included the requirement for the seven-day incident rate of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in the county to be lower on Feb. 21 as compared to Feb. 7 regardless of the community transmission level in the county.

Eric DiTullio, board president, requested that language be eliminated from the motion and masks become optional on Feb. 21 regardless of incident rates.

Board member Jeff Widdowson, who made the motion, and Kathy Whittle, who seconded, agreed to amend the motion to remove that language before the vote.

Many board members cited falling case numbers, the mental and emotional effects on children regarding masking, the availability of vaccines, and the large supply of KN95 masks the district has available for all students to wear if they so choose as their reasoning for supporting optional masking.

The board members agreed that should a new variant occur or cases rise significantly, the requirement could be re-enacted.

But most feel the COVID-19 virus is now moving from a pandemic to an endemic stage.

DiTullio summed up the thoughts of the board members who voted to make masks optional beginning on Feb. 21.

“I’m just excited to say we’re over this hurdle,” he said.