Today is the last day that masks will be required in schools for students and staff across Long Beach, Southern California and the rest of the state.
What will school look like when students and teachers return next week?
Well, nobody’s quite sure.
Masks are still “strongly recommended” per public health orders, but won’t be required. Public sentiment around masks in schools, meanwhile, has been difficult to gauge.
A loud minority of anti-mask protesters have frequented school board meetings in Long Beach and outside of some campuses as well. A recent Los Angeles Times poll, however, showed that a majority of parents in the state were in favor of masks in classes.
But as the COVID-19 numbers continue to drop each week, it’s difficult to measure how public sentiment has changed in real time. On campuses, the majority of Long Beach students have chosen to wear masks even outside, where they haven’t been required.
Monday’s return to class will see a world where anti-mask advocates have their way—masks will be a personal choice for students or teachers. The question is what that choice will be.
Asked if there was an estimate for what percentage of students or staff would choose to remain masked, LBUSD spokesperson Chris Eftychiou said the district doesn’t have a guess.
Eftychiou said principals were given a message to share with their staff at each school that masks will be “strongly recommended but not required,” and to also offer individual staffers N95 masks if they request them for additional protection.
The remainder of the message reads: “In addition, it is important that students and staff understand that we must respect everyone’s decision. Please ensure that actions are not taken to make someone feel uncomfortable with their personal decision to continue masking or to remove their mask indoors.”
That possible tension is what has some teachers in the district concerned about the discussion around masks moving from public health agencies and Board of Education meetings to their classes. Several teachers said they were anxious about the change in policy (the Post has granted them anonymity to discuss their classrooms and employer).
“In one of my classes, I have a student who celebrated the news about masks sitting next to a student who lost two family members to COVID,” said one LBUSD high school teacher. “It’s going to be really emotional for a lot of kids, some who are really excited, and some who are scared and anxious about their families or their own safety.”
At the elementary school level, students have been repeatedly told about the importance of keeping their masks on and many younger students don’t remember school before them, leading one teacher at an LBUSD elementary school to express concerns about the mid-year change.
“We have some students who are very anxious about it because they’ve been hearing about how important it is to wear their mask to stay safe,” she said. “Now if they come to school and most of their class isn’t wearing them, I’m worried about them feeling pressured to take theirs off when they don’t feel safe doing so. It’s going to be a really sensitive couple of weeks until spring break.”
Another high school teacher expressed frustration over what they felt was a lack of support around the transition.
“I think the governor and the health people and our district are tired of people yelling at them about masks,” he said. “I understand that. But now we’re just shoving 25 kids into a classroom with a teacher on Monday and hoping it works out—we’re going to be the ones having to make sure that if there’s one kid wearing a mask they don’t get teased, or if there’s one kid not wearing a mask that they don’t get teased.”
The process of ending the pandemic was always going to involve uncertainty and trust. At various points over the last two years, anti-mask advocates accused the LBUSD board of cruelty for requiring masks; on the other side, some members of the community who wanted schools closed longer accused the board of intentionally trying to kill children by exposing them to COVID.
Sunday will mark two years to the day since local schools closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. When campuses open their doors the next morning, everyone will be stepping into the next stage of the pandemic together, masks or no masks.
As the district’s letter to LBUSD families sent out Friday reads: “We ask that everyone respect one another’s choices on this matter.”