After weeks of internecine wrangling between Pa. Dept. of Health Secretary Rachel Levine and Dept. of Ed. Secretary Pedro Rivera – which ended with Rivera’s Aug. 4 resignation, to take effect Oct. 1 – schools statewide were finally told to keep kids six feet apart from each other when seated and mask students and staff when six-foot distancing is not observed.

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Allentown have released school reopening plans on individual schools’ websites that observe these regulations. BASD, which created its policy during the period when Secretary Levine’s universal mask policy had not been adjusted, will require its students to wear masks from the bus stop at the beginning of the day to the moment they disembark at the end of the day, with limited breaks.

“Our intent was not to have masks in elementary-that was the state mandate that switched that,” school board president Mike Faccinetto tells the Press. “It was going to be middle and high, entering and transition-hallways [and similar situations]. Secretary [Levine] kind of threw a wrinkle in that when they came out with the mandate for schools.”

School board member Emily Schenkel adds that she is a member of the parent-teacher organization (PTO) at Thomas Jefferson ES, and fellow parents have been discussing using money they would have devoted to field trips-which will not take place this year-for mask purchases instead.

“It’s definitely going to be a community effort,” she says.

The Press also spoke exclusively with Dr. Joseph Ladapo, associate professor-in-residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

“There’s no free lunch,” he cautions, “Particularly with younger children, you wonder how much time teachers are going to have to spend enforcing face covers and social distancing, versus letting them learn and grow.”

Ladapo suggests that districts consider the feasibility of alternative strategies, including rapid testing at schools. He also believes personal protective equipment such as N95s should be available to at-risk individuals, rather than depending on cloth face covering compliance among the general population for protection.

BASD is allowing families to choose hybrid (two days in school and three days online) education, BASD Cyber Academy (BASDCA), or eClassroom (online education delivered by BASD teachers). The district plans to allow students to access the three days per week of virtual education in district-run childcare centers. This option “has to be somewhat limited,” Schenkel notes, “because of capacity limitations [on childcare centers] by the state.” This choice will appeal to families who can’t rely on a relative for childcare.

“You don’t want your sixth-grader supervising your third-grader,” Faccinetto says.

Asked whether he could foresee a point – any new restriction – at which any board member would advise against following school-related guidance from the Pa. Secretary of Health, believing that the secretary is putting too great a burden on children, Faccinetto responded with typical candor.

“There have been several occasions, where they [state administrators in Harrisburg] have done something really dumb, especially under [former governor] Corbett, where I just said, ‘We should say No,’ but [it’s not that simple]. Dr. Roy and Dr. Silva are commissioned officers, and they could lose their commission from PDE [the Pa. Dept. of Ed.]. They [state officials] could also penalize us financially. I would love to say, ‘No, we don’t want our K-2 kids to wear masks; it’s going to do more harm than good,’ but they could probably do something negative to us.”