ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Following the Pa. Dept. of Health’s Aug. 31 order mandating masks in public schools, several parent groups held rallies on Sept. 6 protesting the order.
The “Pa. Unites Against School Mask Mandates” rally was held at 1 p.m. on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg to “share ideas, strategies, and advice on how to fight the newest school mask mandate.”
A separate group gathered in Elizabethtown Borough Park at 3 p.m. to protest mask mandates in the Elizabethtown Area School District.
Organizers of both rallies said they felt masks take a psychological toll on their children.
“The biggest issue for us parents is how this is affecting our kids," Brittany Shingara, founder of Pa. for Medical Freedom and Informed Consent and organizer of the Harrisburg rally said. "It feels like their childhood is being taken away."
“It is detrimental to our students’ wellbeing and if we send them to school with a mask it will not end well for them,” Danielle Lindemuth, co-organizer of the Elizabethtown rally said.
The mask mandate announcement was a reversal of the Wolf Administration’s previous decision to leave mask requirements up to each school district.
Several Central Pa. school districts have expressed disappointment with the order. Red Lion Area School District, for example, sent an open letter to the Department of Health questioning whether school employees would be capable of enforcing mask wearing.
Elizabethtown Area School District had decided in its safety plan to make masks optional in all of its schools. Officials wrote in a letter to parents: “We recognize this order is unwanted by some families; however, the reality is that there has been one issued, and it must be implemented whether we like it or not.”
Parents at the Elizabethtown rally said they understood the district has to comply with the state’s order, but wanted the district to allow more exemptions or loosen enforcement.
“That would be what we would be totally in favor of," Lindemuth said. "If you need to be compliant, find a workaround for us."
Organizers urged Elizabethtown parents to keep their kids home starting Tuesday, Sept. 7 until the school district agrees to hold an emergency meeting on the mask mandate.
Other groups, including the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), have praised the masking requirement.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s office also defended the order, saying in a statement: “The Secretary of Health’s authority is clearly outlined in existing law. We need Republicans to stop spending their time undermining public health and instead encourage people to get vaccinated.”