LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Note: The video is from May 14.
The Hempfield School District in Lancaster County announced this week that students who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to stop wearing masks through the end of the school year.
The school district said its decision is in compliance with guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the CDC.
"Our district’s Health and Safety Plan was board approved in August 2020 in order to open school and then reapproved in December to adhere to the state’s attestation requirements," the school district said. "This plan states that we will be in full compliance with any existing and valid orders, including necessary exemptions for facial coverings.
"The Acting Secretary of the PA Department of Health amended the state’s facial covering order on March 16, 2021. Despite the latest recommendations to continue wearing facial coverings in schools, this amended PA Department of Health order remains an existing and valid order that does not require a facial covering if an individual is fully vaccinated. Our school district will remain in full compliance with our previously approved Health and Safety Plan and adhere to the existing and valid facial covering order."
Hempfield's new policy went into effect Tuesday.
It states that a fully-vaccinated individual can choose not to wear a facial covering in schools as long as they follow district protocols.
It is important to note that a fully-vaccinated individual in our schools will be someone 16 years of age or older and the individual is at least:
- two weeks past their second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
- two weeks past a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine
In order for a fully-vaccinated student to not wear a facial covering in the school setting, they must provide proof of their COVID vaccination to their school nurse prior to not wearing a facial covering in school, the school district said.
Anyone who is not fully vaccinated must continue to wear a facial covering in school and adhere to the facial covering requirements set forth by the PA Department of Health and Governor Wolf, the school district added.
"We recognize that most of our students do not have the ability to get vaccinated and that there are only a limited number of school days remaining in the 2020-21 school year," the school district said. "We will continue to adhere to all existing and valid orders and maintain all other mitigation measures outlined in our Health and Safety Plan through the end of the school year."