Safety is at the forefront of the minds of lawmakers, school administrators, teachers, families and students as back to school plans continue to be fine-tuned around Pennsylvania.

State Sen. Lisa Boscola, who represents Lehigh and Northampton counties, led a Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing on Monday to hear from a variety of sources, including many teachers from around the state, on different reopening strategies.

“I don’t envy school board members and administrators right now,” Boscola said. “This is a very difficult situation before us. I’m confident everyone is doing all they can to find solutions. The decisions we’re making can be a matter of life and death, and we have to think of things that way. We all want our kids in school and in the classrooms. We want sports, band, dances and all the activities that make school memorable. But we want all that to happen with as many safeguards in place as possible.”

Parents have chimed in over the past few weeks as back to school plans have taken shape, but Monday’s hearing focused more on teachers and their concerns about getting back in a group setting.

Brian Durand, a social studies teacher in the Abington School District, said that it is his personal health experiences of surviving cancer and a heart attack that are guiding his views on reopening this school.

“I’m here to advocate for the unfortunately large number of students and teachers in our commonwealth who suffer from asthma, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, heart disease, and any other number of ailments that still want to teach and learn, but also don’t want to find ourselves back in a hospital, or worse.”

Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, strongly advocated for districts to make it mandatory for students to wear masks at all times except for those children medically unable to do so.

“It is evident many districts are making masks optional, and teachers across the state are terrified of physically returning to schools and bringing virus home to their families and loved ones,” Askey told legislators.

Keeping masks on students, especially younger ones, could prove to be a challenge, William Penn School District Board President Jennifer Hoff said.

“Young people are going to be young people,” she said. “It is not far-fetched to see young students borrowing or sharing masks as if they were a pair of sneakers.”

Askey said the statewide teachers’ union is also very concerned about a lack of consistent policy across the state about what happens when a student or employee shows symptoms during the day.

Boscola and her fellow committee members also heard from a student representative on Monday.

“While it is tragic to not see friends and teachers in person, it would be even more tragic if there is a death in a school district or of one of our family members due to COVID-19. I value my life, the lives of my classmates, my teachers, and my family as well as those of students and teachers across the state,” rising Pottstown High School Senior, Kishan Patel, said. “Life cannot be replaced.”

Dr. William Keough of the PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics noted that in addition to being vigilant about stopping the spread of COVID-19, parents must also keep up with their children’s regular immunizations for things like chickenpox, measles and polio.

“Vaccinations in Pennsylvania decreased 60% since the coronavirus pandemic hit,” he said.

Boscola said properly addressing the questions regarding return to school would require taking the Democrat versus Republican battle off the table.

“We need substance and reliable data, not a catchy meme on Facebook,” she said. “The virus doesn’t care about politics. The last few months, you can’t go anywhere without hearing from parents and school officials about what the heck we are going to do. It is more important than ever that we share ideas, coordinate strategies, and prepare contingency plans.”