While many Californians will be able to remove masks in most indoor settings starting today as the statewide mandate expires, school settings will still require them, at least for the next few weeks.
State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said during a virtual news conference Monday that California will reassess its masking guidance for K-12 public schools on Feb. 28. Changes will not come down to a single indicator, he said, but a composite look at COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and vaccination rates.
An expiration date for masks in schools could be announced on Feb. 28.
“It’s certainly going to take some time for schools, leaders and public health leaders across the state to prepare, for families to prepare,” Ghaly said. “It’s not a decision that happens in the next day or next couple of days, but certainly something that we will be sharing clearly and setting a timetable if we see the information that we hope, and frankly expect, to see on the 28th.”
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California’s mask mandate for indoor public spaces will expire after Tuesday, but Ghaly said many times during the conference that masks are still a “strong recommendation.”
Unvaccinated individuals are still required to wear masks, and they are required in certain settings, such as health care facilities and public transportation, regardless of vaccination statues.
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Some critics across the state are pushing back. In Southern California’s Ventura County, Superintendent of Schools César Morales said Monday the mandate in schools should be removed Wednesday when masking requirements indoors in most public places are set to be removed by the state and Ventura County Public Health.
“With COVID-19 case numbers declining and the fact that schools are among the safest places in our community, I believe the mask mandate should be lifted at schools at the same time,” Morales said in a written statement. “Even after masks become optional, anyone who wants to continue using them should feel comfortable doing so.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has come under pressure from Republicans and other critics to ease the mandates. He indicated last week that he was ready to ease making rules at schools but the teachers unions were not.
“They just asked for a little bit more time and I think that’s responsible and I respect that,” Newsom told a news conference last week. “But we also have a date with destiny. We recognize that we want to turn the page on the status quo.”
Ghaly said Monday that COVID-19 cases in California have dropped by more than 75% since mid-January, but the state was not yet ready to make masks optional in schools. He declined to answer repeated questions on what role teachers unions played in Monday’s decision.
But the teachers’ stance was made clear minutes after Ghaly finished speaking, when the powerful California Teachers Association issued a statement praising the “cautious approach to masking.”
“We know that masking, strong testing programs and having good school ventilation systems in place have been key to ensuring the stability of in-person learning,” the statement from CTA President E. Toby Boyd said, but added that changes “will disrupt and destabilize school communities.”
Newsom said last week that one of the sticking points in labor negotiations was the relatively low vaccination rates for children under 12.
Only 28% of 5 to 11-year-olds in California are fully vaccinated, according to the latest state figures, compared to 89% of residents 18 and older.
Ghaly declined to say whether lifting school mask requirements would be tied to specific metrics.
California has had some of the strictest mask and vaccination requirements in the country, with Newsom announcing last October a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all public and private schoolchildren. That mandate is not expected to take effect until July, pending full federal approval for the shots.
The school mask requirements, in place since July 2020, were key to getting the state’s powerful teachers unions to agree to reopen classrooms.
Parents are frustrated, prompting some officials to make their own decisions.
In a suburb of Sacramento, the Roseville Joint Union High School District school board openly defied the state mandate last week with a unanimous vote to start a “mask optional” policy.
At Corona Norco Unified School District in Riverside County, where students and parents recently protested the school mask mandate, the district said it has set up a supervised, outdoor area where students who refuse to mask up can spend the day protesting or doing school work.
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The Super Bowl took place in Los Angeles on Sunday, and among thousands of attendees, few were seen wearing masks, despite the mandate in the state and Los Angeles County. When asked what he has to say to “outraged parents,” who watched maskless attendees and whose children still can’t shed their masks in schools, Ghaly said he understands the frustration and hopes the message is clear that a change will come soon.
“It’s taking the time to prepare and work with the school community and communities at large that we anticipate making the change at that point,” Ghaly said. “That change is going to be one that I think will be met with a lot of excitement in some, and a lot of fear in other circles.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
