'I'm ready to take it off': Local students weigh-in on changing mask rules in schools

As more local school districts vote to make masks optional, students have mixed feelings about whether they're ready to ditch their masks.

PHILADELPHIA - As more states continue to drop mask mandates amid a steady decline in COVID-19 cases, schools are also deciding if students and teachers can ditch the mask to bring normalcy back to the classroom.

Garnett Valley School District became the latest local district to make masks optional for students and faculty members effective immediately.

Radnor Township School District is also expected to make masks optional after officials heard over 3 hours of public comment on Tuesday mostly in favor of dropping the requirement.

"I’m ready to take it off because I’m ready to see people's faces again and I think they’ll make personal connections more meaningful again," said Jordan Paszamant, a 12th grader at Friends Central.

According to Johns Hopkins University data over the weekend, total confirmed cases of COVID-19 barley exceeded 100,000, a sharp downturn from around 800,850 five weeks ago on Jan. 16.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are down from a national seven-day average of 146,534 on Jan. 20 to 80,185 the week ending on Feb 13, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID data tracker.

In turn, local parents have highlighted increased rates of depression and anxiety among school-aged students and noted developmental issues that some believe are associated with masking.

"I think one of my kids is ready, I don’t know about the other one," a local parent said, commenting that masks have become part of students' routine. "But the numbers have dropped time to take advantage of the opportunity."

While some students are looking forward to heading to class without a mask, others like Asia Martin said they'll keep the mask on for now.

"It’s a particular choice of ours," a parent said. "I’m not even going back to work, I’m not going to company events."