After protests at Oak Ridge High School in El Corado Hills, the El Dorado Union High School District changed its mask policy and will no longer exclude students who do not wear masks from the classroom.
Students at the Northern California school said that they were tired of wearing masks in class, “It’s totally your choice. But I think if you don’t want one, you don’t have to wear one.” said freshman Jonas Merrill. The district announced that the requirement would not change, but the enforcement policy would. In a press release, the district said, “The enforcement of masking will be done by educating students and asking them to mask but no further actions of exclusion from class will be taken. Moving forward students will not be physically removed from the classroom or receive a discipline consequence to prevent further exclusionary learning loss.”
Some parents were glad that the policy was changed and are hopeful that this change leads to an end to the mask mandate in all California schools, “If you’re going to undo the mask mandate for the State of California, the kids should probably be our priority,” said parent Brittnee Gredvig. Gredvig is referring to the mask mandate that just expired in the state but continued for students. Even some districts in liberal parts of the state are changing their policies. San Diego Unified changed its outdoor mask policy on Wednesday. At Roseville Joint Union High School District, masks were made optional.
Students all across the country are done with masking in schools, but students in California have suffered the most. While the state has said that the school mandate could end by the end of this month, many are not hopeful given how long the state has held this policy.
Photo Cred: @AndyVermaut/Twitter
