Parents can decide whether their child will wear a mask inside the classroom in Lehighton Area School District during the 2021-22 school year.

The district’s board approved an updated health and safety plan Monday night, which only calls for mandatory masking on school buses.

“This plan is a highly condensed version of the one we had to complete last year,” Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. “We’re anticipating as much of a return to normal as possible this year.”

One of the biggest questions asked by Lehighton parents in the lead-up to Monday’s meeting was whether masks would be mandatory for students.

On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccinated teachers and students did not have to wear masks in the classroom, although children aren’t currently eligible for the shot until they are 12 years old. It is some of the first official guidance for districts as it pertains to the upcoming school year. The Pennsylvania Department of Education said it would mirror its recommendations to that of the CDC.

“We’re still planning on making mask wearing optional in the buildings,” Cleaver said. “If someone wants to wear a mask, they absolutely have that option and vice versa. The mask mandate on public transportation such as school buses comes from the federal government and we don’t have the ability to change that as a local school board. That is something we have to comply with.”

The health and safety plan does allow for some flexibility.

“Updated CDC recommendations, state/federal orders and/or local data may result in modifications to the district’s face covering practice,” the plan states.

The CDC did not advise schools to require shots for teachers and students who are eligible for the shot. It also didn’t offer guidance on how school officials would know which teachers and students are vaccinated.

As of Friday, 1 out of 3 kids ages 12 to 17 have received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC statistics.

“I can tell you that we have no plans to make the vaccine mandatory unless something comes down from the state or federal government,” Cleaver said. “Also there will be no COVID-19 testing from us. If someone tests positive through their health care provider, however, all the contact tracing steps will remain the same and students or staff would have to quarantine as they did last year.”

Within its recommendations, the CDC acknowledged that students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in the fall 2021 is a priority.

Lehighton was one of only a few districts statewide to provide five-day in-person learning for its elementary and middle school students from the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.

“Our goal, again for this school year, will be to maximize the amount of in-person learning for all students throughout the district,” Cleaver said.