Amid rising COVID-19 cases and the ongoing public outcry — both pro and con — surrounding masks for the upcoming school term, the Bucks County Health Department (BCHD) has clarified its recommendations for the 2021-2022 scholastic year.

Its statement to county parents and students included a caveat about the department’s limitations.

The BCHD states that neither it nor the Bucks County Commissioners can “dictate to independently elected school boards or school district superintendents how to manage their schools or students.”

At first, Dr. David Damsker, Bucks County Health Commissioner, recommended a Targeted Temporary Mitigation approach. It required that mask policy be specific, temporary, and not affecting healthy individuals when possible.

A day later, Damsker shifted the official stance.

“As a result of this new information provided by our partner hospitals, we support their recommendation to follow CDC guidance on masking in schools,” he said. “This is particularly important for students who are unvaccinated, which includes all students under 12.

“We continue to urge — in the strongest possible sense — that everyone get vaccinated.”

The new information Damsker referred to was an expressed concern from local pediatric medical centers. Physicians expressed fear that without masks in Bucks County classrooms, they could get dangerously overwhelmed by a glut of COVID-19 cases in local children.

Regarding mask mandates on school buses, the BHCD cites the Center for Disease Control’s order for masks on all forms of public transportation. It then defers to each school district to “work with their solicitor to interpret this order and its applicability.”

The health department also highlighted parental empowerment that enables them to mask their children “…regardless of school district masking policies.”

The original BCHD document, absent Damsker’s follow-up statement, is at the county’s website.