Philly public, Catholic schools officially going mask-optional Wednesday

Come Wednesday, students and teachers in the Philadelphia School District can take off their masks, officials confirmed Tuesday.

When Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole last week moved the city to all-clear status, lifting the mask mandate for indoor spaces across Philadelphia, she said a similar order might come for schools Wednesday if case counts continued to trend in the right direction and after officials examined what happened in neighboring districts.

Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. confirmed the shift in a message to staff and families, saying the city health department gave the green light.

“Our No. 1 priority remains safely keeping our students in school, full time and in person where we know they learn best and we recognize that this includes a responsibility to move our school district community closer to a sense of normalcy, as COVID-19 conditions allow,” Hite wrote. “We know that vaccines are the best protection against the spread of coronavirus. Right now 86% of School District staff are fully vaccinated and PDPH reports that more than 75% of Philadelphians over the age of 12 are, too. And over the past several weeks, COVID-19 case counts in Philadelphia have remained consistently low.”

Though district students and staff in kindergarten through 12th grade will have the option of wearing their masks, students in prekindergarten and Head Start programs must continue to mask, officials said.

And all students and staff will be expected to put masks back on between April 18-22, the week after the district’s spring break.

The district is also phasing out weekly COVID testing for vaccinated employees. Unvaccinated staff will continue to be tested.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is also removing its mask mandate effective Wednesday for schools in city limits. Those outside the city had already lifted their mandates.

“All other COVID-19 protocols such as social distancing, increased ventilation, and enhanced cleaning will continue to remain in effect,” administrators wrote in a letter to Catholic school families sent Tuesday. “We will continue to monitor and report COVID-19 cases and if there are case surges within a school building or a county, there may be a need to return to the use of masks. The further reduction of other mitigation efforts will be considered over time pending circumstances. We continue, in the strongest possible terms, to encourage all students and staff to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine and booster.”