Elk Grove schools, parents await Newsom’s announcement on student mask mandate
As Gov. Gavin Newsom prepares to potentially roll back California’s masking mandates in classrooms, Elk Grove parents and school officials are waiting to see what that will mean for students in one of the state’s largest school districts.
Update: California won’t lift its mask mandate for schools just yet despite drop in COVID cases
Newsom told reporters last week that his office was getting “closer and closer” to an announcement regarding school mask mandates.
“Hopefully, in a matter of days,” the governor said Wednesday.
Masks remain the rule at Elk Grove Unified School District — Northern California’s largest — and at K-12 schools and child care centers statewide.
“We’re waiting to hear what the revised guidance is,” Elk Grove Unified School District Board trustee Nancy Chaires Espinoza said Thursday.
But Espinoza added that masking has been an effective tool in keeping the virus at bay and classes open in Elk Grove Unified schools.
“Masking has been part of a multilayered solution,” she said. “As the virus, science and guidance evolve, we’ll continue to use a multilayered approach to keep students safe.”
Meantime, the rate of COVID-19 infections at Elk Grove district schools continues to fall. Elk Grove Unified’s 7-day average rate stood at 71.65 per 100,000, a decline of more than half from Feb. 1, when the rate was nearly 175 cases per 100,000, according to the district’s COVID-19 dashboard. The district’s 7-day case rate peaked at 221 cases per 100,000 roughly a month ago, on Jan. 13.
“First and foremost, we are encouraged by the recent drop in COVID cases,” Xanthi Soriano, Elk Grove Unified spokeswoman, said Thursday.
Elk Grove Unified reported 366 active COVID-19 cases and 116 people under quarantine as of Friday. In all, 5,399 student cases have been reported in the district of more than 63,000 students since the pandemic began.
Friday’s figures are in line with encouraging numbers from other Sacramento-area schools. Folsom Cordova, Natomas, Sacramento City, San Juan and Twin Rivers school districts all reported marked declines in COVID-19 cases since last week.
California’s statewide mask rules for fully vaccinated people in some indoor settings will ease on Tuesday.
Only those who are unvaccinated will continue to be required to wear face coverings in all indoor public settings under the revised order. Those who are fully vaccinated are recommended to continue wearing their masks indoors in situations where the risk may be high.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends all students, staff, teachers and visitors to K-12 schools wear face coverings, regardless of their vaccination status.
Vaccination rates in schools are lower than the wider public because their population is largely made up of children, Newsom has said.
And, state health officials credit California’s student indoor masking requirement with allowing more K-12 campuses to remain open compared to other parts of the country.
California accounts for about one in every eight students in the U.S., but only 1% of COVID-related school closures during the omicron surge, according to California Department of Public Health officials.
Some students struggle with face coverings
As Elk Grove district schools await word from the governor’s office, parents, too, are weighing in.
At Oasis Community Park off of Whitelock Parkway, Rita Stoian said she would welcome a lifting of the mask mandate. The Elk Grove mother has a kindergartner and a sixth-grader in the district’s schools.
“I think if (Gov. Newsom) lifts it, I would be OK with that,” Stoian said. She said her children have struggled with the facial coverings and said decisions on whether to don masks in class should be left to families.
“I think it should be a choice. It’s uncomfortable for my kids,” Stoian said. “They should be in school and exposed to the school environment, but (masks) should be a choice.”
At Elk Grove’s The Preserve at District 56 park, many parents and children wore face coverings, but a number did not on the warm February afternoon.
‘The kids should keep their masks on’
Karen and Lawrence Bodie, both wearing masks, grabbed a bench to watch one of their grandchildren play at the park Wednesday. The grandparents of three children who attend a Fortune charter school, the Bodies each were diagnosed with COVID-19 in recent weeks. The couple had mild symptoms and have since recovered but want to keep mandatory masking in place in the classroom.
“I think the kids should keep their masks on,” Karen Bodie said. She mused that some believe masks are no longer needed as the latest omicron surge dissipates.
The numbers dropped in part, Bodie said, because the mandates remained in place.
The Bodies also worried that their grandchildren could contract the virus in class and bring it home.
“We had COVID two weeks ago and didn’t even know we had it. One of the grandchildren had it, but the other two didn’t,” Karen Bodie said. “Think if the other two weren’t wearing masks and they gave it to someone. Some say (about the mandate), ‘Poor kids,’ but why tempt it?“
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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