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The Board of Education voted 5-0 to change the Alameda Unified School District's (AUSD) COVID-19 masking protocol from 'mandatory' to 'strongly recommended' at its March 8th public meeting.
The new protocol complies with the Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) and the California Department of Public Health, and aligns AUSD's policy with state and county guidelines. The change took effect Monday, March 14th, and allows students, staff, and even athletes to take off their masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.
According to ACPHD's March press release, "Since the peak of the Omicron surge in January, cases have come down significantly overall as well as in highly impacted communities, and hospitalizations are well below their peak. When there are fewer cases, there is less virus circulating, making it safer to adopt changes to the strictest COVID restrictions."
57% of students surveyed at Encinal Jr/Sr High School are against the change, and 92% of students continue to wear their masks even after the policy change.
As of April 1, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "recommends universal indoor masking by all students (ages 2 years and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status." Some students have concerns that leaving this decision to student choice rather than enforcing the CDC's recommendation is unwise.
"I think [the new policy] is a little nerve-racking… I take care of elderly people like my grandparents, so that in a sense is nerve-racking, but I'm happy we're moving forward, and we're safer with the vaccines," said senior Lily Figueroa. "I think we should have waited just a little bit longer, maybe after spring break, then assess what our cases look like, then maybe move forward."
On the other hand, some students are happy about the change, "I've worn [a mask] the entire time [it was mandated], and it's gotten too uncomfortable for me," Senior Ryan Gurney said. "Especially with playing sports, it's so hard to breathe, so taking it off during that time especially is useful, and I also personally like seeing people's faces, not just seeing their eyes, it helps you understand and see a person."
The new masking protocol poses a complicated problem for teachers with students who are uncomfortable sitting next to unmasked individuals.
"When it first came up that it was going to be self-regulated, a number of kids both in my 8th-grade classes and 10th-grade classes shared with me personally that it made them uncomfortable to think about sitting next to somebody without a mask on," said History teacher Ms. Dellefield. "We got very explicit directions from the district saying that we could not segregate kids in any way; masked or no mask. So that's where we're at... I personally wish we would have kept the mask mandate until after spring break here on campus because it's becoming more relaxed out in the world, and that would give people time to adjust to the idea [of not wearing a mask]."
However, other safety measures will stay in effect.
"Our many other layers of safety - such as improved ventilation, restricting who can be on campus, testing, providing modified quarantines in classrooms with positive cases, and supporting vaccinations - will stay in place," AUSD superintendent Scuderi wrote.
"While public health metrics point to declining case rates, public health officials and AUSD are aware that if another COVID-19 surge occurs, masking may need to become mandatory again," an AUSD spokesperson wrote on March 9th.
Posters have gone up around campus advertising the new policy.
More information, including a COVID-19 dashboard, can be found at the AUSD Coronavirus Hub.
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