Kids wear masks as they return to school in Hillsborough County in August of 2021. HARRISBURG, Pa. - An order by Pennsylvania's acting health secretary that requires masks inside public schools was thrown out Wednesday by a state court that said she lacked the authority.Commonwealth Court sided 4-1 with the ranking Republican in the state Senate and others who sued to challenge the masking order that took effect in early September.The judges said Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam's mandate did not comply with the state's laws about reviewing and approving regulations and was adopted without an existing disaster emergency declared by the governor.The state's Disease Control Law does not give health secretaries "the blanket authority to.