San Bruno Park School District keeps mask rules

Superintendent Matthew Duffy outlined his plan for a safe return to school, which calls for reducing on-site testing opportunities to only after major holiday vacations as more people test from home and requires students and staff to wear masks indoors as long as the county is in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s red tier.

COVID-19 cases have remained steadily high since mid-May and the county has been in the CDC’s red tier for months now due to more contagious omicron mutations. About 11 residents for every 100,000 in the county are contracting the virus per day, based on a rolling seven-day-average, according to the CDC dashboard.

Once the county moves into the yellow tier, indicating a moderate risk of infection, Duffy said the district would shift to recommending masking. The dashboard is updated every Thursday and the district’s shift would take place the Friday immediately following the change, Duffy said.

An announcement outlining the policy will go out to parents before school starts, Thursday, Aug. 25. Principals will also be allowed to send out announcements daily, reminding families to practice safety measures including masking, monitoring symptoms and testing and staying home if symptoms are detected.

“Right now, just [know] that COVID-19 is here to stay and becoming more common but less fatal,” Duffy said, recounting messaging shared during a recent meeting with the county Office of Education. “We have to learn to deal with it and we believe that schools really can manage this disease.”

Responses to the plan were mixed. Two of the three public speakers during Wednesday’s meeting spoke out against the mandate, arguing that masks make communication with children, especially younger kids, difficult. Kids may end up muffled by masks and struggle to pick up language lessons without seeing the shapes mouths make when speaking, the educators argued.

Trustee Teri Chavez said she empathized with those who were against the masking mandate and acknowledged masks can be frustrating to wear for long periods of time, conceding that she also finds herself wanting to rip off her mask after wearing one while shopping.

Trustee Jennifer Blanco also lent her voice in favor of individual choice, noting the general public already goes maskless in many public places. She and Chavez both expressed hope COVID-19 cases would drop enough to move the county into the CDC’s yellow tier before the start of school.

“I get it. I see both sides but it’s still personal for us so let’s hope and pray for yellow,” Blanco said.

Trustee Andrew Mason supported the recommendation but asked that Duffy provide the board with more information comparing the plan to those adopted in other districts. He also asked that Duffy provide an update on how many COVID-19 cases occurred on campuses during summer school compared to other districts.

Nearly all school districts in San Mateo County stopped requiring people to mask regardless of vaccination status in March after state officials in February announced masks would instead be highly recommended.

San Bruno Park School District was one of three districts to keep its mask mandate after the announcement. Burlingame School District lifted its mandate following spring break and San Mateo Union High School District lifted its mandate at the end of the last school year.

The Office of Education is not requiring districts to submit updated plans but Duffy said the district is still one of the only ones to require masks going into the new school year. Districts are still required to report COVID-19 cases as students and staff test positive and to update their COVID-19 dashboards, he said.

Sánchez and President Andriana Shea were most in favor of the plan, which they credited as being a responsible and safe approach to beginning the school year and a continuation of the district’s cautious leadership throughout the pandemic.

“As a district, we’ve done a really good job responding to the pandemic,” Shea said. “This recommendation is right in line with that.”

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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