Mask advisory for Catholic schools

By Raymond L. Delisle  |  Director of Communication 

The Catholic Schools Office has advised parish and diocesan elementary and secondary schools on mask wearing as they prepare to reopen next week.  

The official notice to school administrators sent at the end of last week by David Perda, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, reads as follows: “Schools should encourage non-vaccinated students to wear masks while indoors. Ultimately, the final decision should be made by parents/guardians. It is also recommended that non-vaccinated school staff members wear a mask while indoors.”  

Decisions regarding wearing masks should apply the principle of subsidiarity, an important decision-making rule in the Catholic Church, the diocese has decided. Essentially, subsidiarity means nothing should be done at a higher level that can be done well or better at a lower level. It moves the decision to the point closest to those who are affected.  

Bishop McManus applied the principle by advising the Superintendent’s Office that we should respect parental decision-making whenever possible regarding whether a child wears a mask in school.  

That principle, however, cannot be practiced in isolation and is limited by the virtue of prudence. Pastors and principals have a responsibility to their entire school community and must weigh the good of the whole, along with the individual family. As such, pastors and principals have been advised that, if their community’s board of health strongly advises that masks be worn in the elementary grades, the pastor can decide to make the masks mandatory in the school for the protection of all students and staff. That is particularly important given that elementary grade students have not had vaccines available to them yet and pediatric cases of coronavirus have been rising in some communities. 

At St. Paul Diocesan Jr.-Sr. High School, however, students age 12 and older have had access over the summer to coronavirus vaccines and the risks to the overall school community are reduced.  The decision regarding whether a student will wear a mask will be a parental or family one, unless the Commonwealth mandates masks in all school settings. The official guidance from the diocese, nonetheless, stresses the importance of non-vaccinated individuals wearing a mask indoors and that the school should encourage non-vaccinated individuals to do so.  

All of this is subject to change “as the situation with COVID evolves,” according to the Superintendent’s memo and if Jeffrey Riley, the Massachusetts Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, issues a mandate for mask-wearing in all schools.  

Catholic News Service reports that around the country there is a broad range of face mask policies in effect – from none at all to strict requirements. 

Decisions about mask requirements for Catholic schools are made at diocesan levels primarily based on local COVID-19 cases, CNS reports. Some Catholic school systems are not requiring masks like their public school counterparts or even when local public schools have a mandate. 

Other Catholic superintendents have recently announced that masks are now required after previously saying they would not be and at least one archdiocese is following a hybrid model, requiring masks only indoors and not requiring them for high school students. 

In some of the dioceses with school mask requirements, parents are protesting and signing petitions saying they should have been given the choice. 

– Information from Carol Zimmermann of Catholic News Service was used in this report. 

PHOTO:Students work at their desks on the first day of the new school year at St. Matthew School in Franklin, Tenn., Aug. 6, 2020, with extensive COVID-19 protocols in place, including temperature screening and mandatory face masks for each student. (CNS photo/Rick Musacchio, Tennessee Register)