A revised health and safety plan, with face masks optional, is under consideration for Northampton Area School District.

A mandate requiring the wearing of face masks inside all NASD buildings despite vaccination status for students, staff and visitors was approved Aug. 23 by the NASD Board of Education and went into effect at the Aug. 30 start of the 2021-22 year.

Revisions were detailed at the Nov. 22 meeting of the school board, which is expected to vote on whether or not to implement.

Consideration of the health plan occurs after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Nov. 8 that school districts can modify or end the mandate for K-12 students effective Jan. 17, 2022, after which decisions are to be made by local school officials.

“There has been much discussion about when the mandate will go away,” NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik said during his Nov. 22 presentation to the board and public. “From what we’re hearing, January is when the face-covering mandate goes away. We have to be ready to take the next step.”

Kovalchik gave several examples of COVID-19 mitigation strategies in NASD school buildings that might be implemented based on three factors: positive-case building bench marks, evidence of school community spread and Northampton County substantial or high COVID-19 transmission levels.

If the school board votes to revise the health and safety plan to include face coverings as optional and the three factors are met, additional mitigation strategies would include face coverings required in buildings for seven days, on buses and in health-related areas.

“We would still keep schools open,” Kovalchik said.

Kovalchik discussed the second change in the health and safety plan, regarding close-contact quarantine.

Close contact in schools pertains to someone who is in contact with a person who tests positive for COVID-19. If so, symptoms will be monitored for 14 days. No quarantine is required if no symptoms are present.

Household close contact has to do with an individual in a household who tests positive for COVID-19. A quarantine is required based on Department of Health guidelines.

School Director Robert Mentzell made a proposal Nov. 22 to require face masks for kindergarten through fifth-grade students. This proposal will also be considered by the board.

The NASD website COVID-19 dashboard seven-day building totals Nov. 17-23 are: Northampton Area High School, 17; Northampton Area Middle School, 8; Borough Elementary Schools, 1; Moore Elementary School, 0; Lehigh Elementary School, 5; George Wolf Elementary School, 13; district administration, 0.

The number of total positive cases so far this year is 279.

The board of education next meets 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6 in the NAHS auditorium, 1619 Laubach Ave. Face masks are required, and personal items will be checked at the entrance. Attendees must walk through a metal detector in the school lobby.