Bay Area Students Have Widely Varied Reactions to End of Schools Mask Mandate
SAN JOSE (KPIX) -- Lifting the statewide mask mandate for school-age children Monday yielded vastly different results in classrooms and school systems and communities across California and the Bay Area.
"It was very surprising to see most people were still wearing their masks," said Angelo Lee outside San Jose's Mount Pleasant High School. Lee told KPIX the number of his classmates wearing masks voluntarily far outnumbered the students going maskless.
Many Mount Pleasant students said it came down to comfort and safety and expressed concerns about ditching their masks prematurely.
"My parents are a little older. My mom is in her 50s and my dad's in his 60s. And I feel like if they got sick things wouldn't be as good. And I had an aunt who passed away from COVID, so I just feel safer with it on," explained Diego Carrillo, who said he will likely finish the school year wearing a mask.
But at Livermore's Rancho Las Positas Elementary School, it was a very different story. In Danielle Lane's kindergarten class, most students were mask free to their teacher's delight.
"This is really refreshing. I've been looking forward to it -- allowing these kids to be able to breath," Lane said.
Lifting the statewide mandate means the decision to wear a mask or not will now be made by individual students, families or school districts.
Public health officials suggested that parents should look at case rates, the level of vaccinations in a school community and any health vulnerabilities their children may have before ditching the mask.
"Is it generally safe for a kid to take their mask off? I would say yes with an asterisk next to it. And the asterisk depends on who they are, who they live with and are they vaccinated," Dr. Peter Chin Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF.
But some parents like Jennifer Johnson says they're just not ready abandon the safety measures that have kept her children healthy and COVID free these past two years.
"Because my kids are in elementary and middle school, we told them, 'You're still wearing the mask.' It's highly recommended," Johnson said.
After extended periods of remote learning and abiding by COVID requirements after coming back to schools, it was another step towards normalcy for many students in the East Bay Monday morning.
Olivia Ajoluny is a 8th grader at Stone Valley Middle School in Alamo. She has been waiting for this day.
"I'm just really excited, honestly!" she said. "It's going to feel cool to be back without a mask on."
Her mother told KPIX off camera it was good seeing all the kids smiling faces.
Dana Braidman has a daughter in 6th grade who she said has decided to continue wearing her mask for safety.
"It's about feeling safe, I guess. So I've told her she's very safe. That's my main theme is that she's safe and it's up to her," said Braidman. "You can breathe better and sensory-wise for her it would be better not to wear it, but I'm not going to yank it from her. She can decide."
Most Bay Area school districts will fall in line with state guidance ending indoor masking requirements, though there are exceptions.
Oakland students and staff will continue wearing masks through April 15th. San Francisco Unified is still making elementary-age students wear masks.