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As the debate about masks in schools rages on, there are dozens of cases of COVID-19 in Warren County School District's buildings and more than 250 quarantined students.
According to Superintendent Amy Stewart, as of Friday, there had been "40 positive cases so far, spread out over all of the schools."
She said the district is focused on doing what it can to keep schools open and maintain in-person education.
The statewide mask mandate took effect on Tuesday.
A local group has lobbied the school board to ignore that order.
At an emergency meeting, the board voted on two different motions that would have addressed the order from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Gov. Tom Wolf. Both motions failed.
So far, all of the district's buildings remain open, but the many quarantined students are not in them.
"Right now, there are 264 students who are denied entry to school due to them being close contacts," Stewart said.
Masks were not required during the first week of school and there are exceptions to the order meaning some students could have gone mask-free during the second week.
Masks help students avoid quarantine.
"Students who are masked and at least 3 feet away from a positive case are permitted to stay in school," Stewart said. "If they become symptomatic, then we have to deny entry."
The district does not have a numeric guideline for how many cases a school may have before it is shut down.
"Keeping schools open are a primary focus," Stewart said. "We look at the data throughout every day to keep our pulse in what is happening at each school."
Keeping staff healthy and off of the list of those quarantined is one of the keys.
"We know that we will have to begin to have conversations about closures if employees can't come to work in large numbers," Stewart said. "The other major trend we have to monitor closely is spread of COVID within the building."
"We are implementing a lot of layers of mitigation strategies, all in the name of trying to keep schools open," she said.
Stewart did not comment Friday on the effects of masks in the transmission of COVID-19.
"I don't know how I could make any definite statements about what is working with this variant and what isn't," she said. "We only have eight school days under our belt at this point. Time will tell us what is working and what isn't."
One of the exceptions to the order indicates that masks are not required: "If wearing a face covering would either cause a medical condition, or exacerbate an existing one, including respiratory issues that impede breathing, a mental health condition or a disability."
The board voted down a motion that would make that exception implied - no proof required - for students and others in school buildings who were not wearing masks after they were reminded of the rule.
The board then failed to pass a motion that would have modified the health and safety plan to reflect the order.
The plan must address the "universal and correct wearing of masks."
The language in that portion of the plan is identical whether the incidence rate in the county is low, moderate, substantial, or high.
"The board encourages and recommends the wearing of a mask by all persons while inside a school building, regardless of vaccination status. However, the board is not mandating this at this time. If Warren County is determined to be at high risk of COVID-19 transmission, the Superintendent will analyze the transmission rates and positive cases within the schools and community, share the information with the board, and the board may hold meeting for the purpose of deciding whether masks will be required at that time. The board, at a later date and regardless of the transmission rate in the county, may also hold a meeting and required that masks be worn in a particular building if an outbreak is identified within that particular building."
The order specifically addresses districts whose plans do not call for universal masking.
"A school entity must… require and enforce the requirement that all teachers, children/students, staff, and visitors (subject to exceptions) wear a face covering indoors, regardless of whether this order is reflected in a school entity's Health and Safety Plan."
According to the guidance on the district's website: "Students that have not been granted an exemption by the WCSD and that refuse to wear a face-covering are subject to discipline pursuant to the district's Discipline Code. We understand this is a very controversial and difficult topic, but the Warren County School District legally must enforce this order."