Meeting for the first time since a shake-up in leadership last week, a seven-member Lehighton Area School District board of directors voted Monday night to adopt a student masking protocol “identical to Tamaqua Area School District.”

The 6-1 decision means as of Nov. 30, the first day back from Thanksgiving break, the district will give parents the option to submit an exemption form, without a doctor’s signature, allowing their child to go unmasked during the school day.

Director David Bradley, who made the motion, said the Pennsylvania Department of Health and medical professionals “have not been applying common sense” when advocating for masks to be worn inside school buildings.

The district recently emailed a survey to parents asking them if they were in favor or opposed to masks being mandatory in school. Only 434 parents, about 20 percent of those who received the survey, answered. Of those who answered, between 54 and 59% of them said they were not in favor of mandatory masking.

Residents who spoke before the vote Monday, many of them who have voiced their opposition to masks since the Department of Health’s mandate in September, again asked for the health and safety plan to be changed.

“Take the masks off immediately,” Janice Collins said. “The board can’t be sued. I haven’t seen one study that proves masks work.”

Ryan Bowman later commented in support of allowing parental exemptions “for the mental health and well-being of the students.”

Stephen Holland was the only director to vote against mirroring Tamaqua’s stance on masks.

Brian Shaner, a district parent, asked the board to consult a medical professional from at least one of the local health networks before taking a vote.

“When we have questions about legal issues, we question our solicitor,” Shaner said. “Why wouldn’t we consult a medical professional on this? That is all I’m asking.”

Director Nathan Foeller said he has tracked COVID-19 cases within Tamaqua and Jim Thorpe Area School District, which no longer requires a quarantine for close contacts who are not showing symptoms.

“Tamaqua’s numbers are only slightly higher than ours and Jim Thorpe’s are actually slightly lower than we are,” Foeller said. “Neither of those districts are enforcing the Center for Disease Control quarantine guidelines.”

Monday’s meeting in Lehighton was the first for attorney Timothy Gilsbach. His firm, Fox Rothschild, was appointed as solicitor last week, replacing Filer & Schwab. Gilsbach advised the board against simply voting to take the same mask stance as another district, something it did minutes later.

“I’m disappointed,” Shaner said, “that we’re paying a lawyer significantly more money than the previous one and then not taking their advice.”

Gilsbach did warn of potential liability to the district, including a possible fine of $25-$300 per offense for going against the state mandate.

“There could also be potential liability if someone got sick because the district went against the mask order,” he added. “When there is a lack of consistency and districts going back and forth regarding the order, it has led to confusion with what students are supposed to do.”

Where the mandate legally stands at this point remains a murky subject. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court issued a ruling Nov. 10 voiding the Pennsylvania Department of Health order requiring face masks in schools.

In response to the court’s ruling, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s office filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court. Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court then issued an opinion that the mandate will be lifted Dec. 4 unless the Wolf administration is granted a stay by the state Supreme Court.

Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said based on the board’s direction, the district will essentially use Tamaqua’s documents and “just change the name to Lehighton.”

“I’ve made my stance clear in that I feel we should stay with the current guidelines while everything is worked out legally as far as the state order, but it’s ultimately not my decision,” Cleaver said. “My only request is that we don’t start this tomorrow and give our administrators some time to get this information out there and we could be ready to roll it out on Nov. 30.”