Written by William Hekman
Despite the outdoor mask mandate ending in San Diego Unified School District, children will still have to wear their masks indoors, even as the mandate for adults in the state ended a week ago. Children have had to endure COVID policy in their schools for almost two years now, from having remote learning to masks in schools; the decisions being made in schools are not being driven by science, but instead the powerful teachers union.
Former County Board of Education member and President of Parents For Quality Education Mark Powell criticized San Diego County school board members who were still pushing for masks in schools. Powell spoke to KUSI regarding the issue. “Now is the time to find out where they stand on mask mandates, what their plans are when the next Greek letter comes around for the virus, cause are they going to remove the masks and then all of a sudden place it back on when we get another surge of COVID potentially next year.” Powell also said that parents should find out what their school board members’ positions are on masks by contacting them.
Powell said that there has been a shift in how people view school board elections, as school board meetings have become more and more contentious over the last two years. Powell also said that if board members are not transparent with their position, voters should vote them out in November or recall them just like San Francisco did recently, “There’s a swing now we want to hold school board members accountable, we want them not to hide we want them to come out and say this is where we stand.” Powell also criticized school boards for hiding behind zoom meetings and not facing their constituents and parents angry at their policies.
The mask mandate could expire for schools at the end of February, but some are not optimistic, given that California has pushed for these policies more than any other state. With the recent recall of three school board members in San Francisco, parents all around California may have some hope in holding board members accountable and possibly voting bad members out and replacing them with people who will support parents.
Photo Cred: La Jolla Light
