THE ISSUE About 60 Southern Lancaster County residents lined the road leading to Solanco School Districtâs Smith Middle School on Monday evening to protest the state requirement that students wear face masks in school except when eating and during mask breaks. As LNP | LancasterOnlineâs Alex Geli reported, in Pennsylvania counties with substantial community transmission of COVID-19, school districts that offer in-person instruction must enforce the universal mask mandate from the state Department of Health. Lancaster County has been in the substantial category â meaning it has either 100 or more cases per 100,000 residents or a 10% or more positivity rate in the last seven days â since October 2020.