Special Board of Education Meeting

The Moon Area Board of Education held a special business meeting on December 15, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. in the High School Auditorium, called to order by the president. Nine directors were present, with one director joining via conference call, and the solicitor in attendance. Following roughly 24 audience speakers debating whether masks should remain mandatory, the board took action on its Health and Safety Plan.

The board first voted to remove an agenda item, then approved making masks optional in a roll call vote carried by the majority, with three directors voting against. The solicitor advised the board that only the school bus mask requirement remains an enforceable federal mandate, while Allegheny County Health Department and CDC guidelines are recommendations, and warned that ignoring them could increase legal liability, though he considered potential lawsuits speculative. The superintendent urged the board to allow time to plan, recommending an effective date of January 17, 2022.

The board then voted to eliminate its quarantine protocol and contact tracing, again passing on the same roll call vote with the three dissenting directors. Finally, the board amended other provisions of the plan, confirming that masks remain required for all faculty, staff, and visitors until January 17, 2022, that masks become recommended but not required at extracurricular and after-school events effective immediately, and that masks must still be worn on school buses under the federal mandate. That measure also passed with the same three dissenters. The meeting adjourned at 9:19 p.m. on a voice vote.