Bucks County Parents 'Frustrated And Upset' Over New COVID-19 Guidance For School Districts
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's administration has plans to help schools get more people vaccinated. Bucks County has released health guidance for its own school districts.
The new year brings nothing but wonder and excitement, but for parents in Bucks County...
"Very frustrated and upset," one parent said.
Their emotions are mixed after new guidelines released by the Bucks County Health Department for school districts included no county-wide mandates, just recommendations.
"Right now, we just wanna see how the year goes and we just want to have a positive attitude," parent Brenna Luczyszyn said.
The guidance released on Sunday recommends that everyone who is eligible get vaccinated. It also says schools, at a minimum, should adopt a mask-optional policy and notify parents of a confirmed COVID-19 case in their child's classroom.
The Council Rock School District said in a letter to staff they would no longer be notifying parents of confirmed COVID-19 cases inside the classroom.
"There'll be no contact tracing. Pretty much you can have COVID and go to school," a concerned parent said. "It sort of seems like a don't-ask-don't-tell policy."
A parent who asked not to be identified spoke with Eyewitness News about the letter.
It says "this will be treated in the same manner that we treat any other illness, such as the flu."
"It feels more political and that the kids are not really at the heart of the issue right now," a parent said.
State-wide, Gov. Tom Wolf's administration made some announcements of their own on Monday. They will be partnering with vaccine providers to set up vaccine clinics at K-12 schools, colleges, and universities.
"The Departments of Health and Education are focused on getting students back into schools safely and on the field," Allison Beam, Acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, said.
The state's weekly COVID-19 testing program is being offered at no cost to districts due to CDC funding.
As for contact tracing in Council Rock, we reached out to the superintendent and have not heard back.
