The state of California lifted its indoor mask mandate for schools and child care centers, effective at the end of day Friday, meaning most students and staff will not be affected until schools starts on Monday.
While Santa Clara County officials said the county’s COVID-19 masking policy will align with state guidance, school districts have the option to maintain or change their rules around masking. The county’s Public Health Department as well as state Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly still “strongly recommend” masking in public places and in schools.
Many school districts in highly populated areas across the state, including San Francisco Unified, Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified, intend to maintain their indoor mask policies for now, despite highly varying vaccination and case rates among the three districts. According to EdSource, a nonprofit organization covering education news in California, geographic as well political factors are playing a part in whether districts decide to lift the mandate.
The diverse responses from districts across the state have prompted many in the Los Altos and Mountain View schools community to wonder how their local districts will act in the face of updated guidance.
MVLA
Nellie Meyer, superintendent of the Mountain View Los Altos High School District, told the Town Crier that the district plans to drop its mask mandate Monday. In the next two weeks, MVLA schools will share up-to-date information from the county Public Health Department during a school tutorial period to enable students and their families to make their own decisions about whether or not to mask.
“We do anticipate that many staff and students will continue to wear masks because it is a strong mitigating factor against COVID,” Meyer said.
She noted that while outdoor masking has been optional for months, most MVLA students still opt to wear their masks outside, leading her to believe that many will keep masks on come next week.
MVLA District Teachers Association president Dave Campbell said he believes the district has done an excellent job of keeping students and staff safe while providing the best education possible. He said he trusts institutions like the California Department of Health, and added that that while he is a bit nervous about ending the mask mandate from a health standpoint, he is excited to see his students’ faces again.
“I depend very much on reading facial expressions as a language teacher to see how my students are doing, and it’s hard to do that with masks on,” Campbell said. “I can see some furrowed brows, but it’s not the same.”
Los Altos High Associated Student Body president Aida Yezalaleul said her fellow students seem to be divided between those who see the updated guidance as a sign of progress and those who are scared of seeing COVID cases potentially rise once again. She empathizes with both points of view, she said, and she hasn’t made up her mind about whether or not she will continue to mask in class, partially in response to the potential stigma of being the only student to take it off – or the only one to keep it on, for that matter.
“As much as I wish I could say that others’ decisions don’t affect me, they do, to a point,” Yezalaleul said. “And I think that a lot of students feel the same way.”
LASD
Los Altos School District Superintendent Jeff Baier was hesitant to confirm a decision about the new guidance.
The district’s board of trustees was set to discuss the issue at its meeting Monday (after the Town Crier’s print deadline), but he noted that LASD has had “great success following state guidance so far.”
Los Altos Educational Fund board member and art docent Mira Sharma said she has been impressed by the district’s “thoughtful flexibility” at each stage of the pandemic, and she appreciates LASD officials’ commitment to keeping schools open and safe. However, she believes a mandate should be put back in place at the first sign of increasing infections.
“Art docents are in different classrooms as often as four to five times per week – masks have made us feel OK doing that,” she said.
MVWSD
In contrast to some neighboring districts, the Mountain View Whisman School District will continue to require both indoor and outdoor masking for the time being, but its board of trustees will discuss the decision at a board meeting scheduled Thursday.
In a letter to parents Feb. 28, Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph wrote that there are several factors district officials are considering when weighing changes to their masking policies, including vaccination rates, positive case rates and guidance from local public health and labor agencies.
Some MVWSD parents applauded the district for sticking to stricter rules regarding masks, but others claim the policies are holding their children back from receiving the best quality of education possible.
Parent Lori Schertzer Brody has been vocal about her opinion that mandated mask-wearing inhibits the experience of students and may negatively impact their learning.
“My kids can go to Costco or Target unmasked, but not school. It makes no sense,” she said. “This is a parent/family decision, and the district should follow the state, county and neighboring districts and allow an optional masking policy.”
Other parents are more hesitant to transition to optional masks because of the way past loosened restrictions have been tightened again when infections surge.
Alexander Klaiber said he would like to see mandates in place for a few more months until case numbers in the county stabilize at a “comfortingly” lower level.
“I would rather have schools open and safe with masks than suffer another wave, which might result in school closing and possibly more suffering,” he said.
