Clovis parents, it’s simple: Mask up your children so they can go back to school
It is understandable that local elected officials are getting tired of state requirements being handed down when it comes to the COVID pandemic.
And it totally makes sense that parents are fatigued with all that COVID has imposed on them and their children, given that schools were shut down last year and learning had to be done at home, a development neither parents nor students were prepared to do.
What is not logical is to oppose simple steps to keep children and school staff safe from COVID infections. That is what happened at last week’s meeting of the Clovis Unified School District board.
At issue was the directive from the state that all students and adults would have to wear face masks when classes resume on campuses this fall. For Clovis, schools reopen Aug. 16.
A big group of parents and young people crowded into the board meeting, some wearing T-shirts with bold lettering that read “Unmask our kids.” One youngster carried a sign with the message, “Masks are for Halloween.” Others had signs that said, “My child, my choice.”
Board President Steven G. Fogg spoke a message that resonated with many in the audience: “They (state officials) have no clue what is going on in our district. We are not L.A., we are not San Francisco, we are different.
“I am not making a statement one way or the other, but we need local control.”
Parents cheered when trustee David DeFrank read a proposed resolution that pointed out how students struggle to understand each other when masks are in place, especially those children who have hearing difficulties.
DeFrank’s resolution closed with a demand that state health officials allow Clovis Unified to decide for itself whether masks should be required. The school board is to consider the resolution in a special meeting Thursday.
COVID surge
Recent events, however, show how this is not the time to relax COVID protections.
Nearly 600 new cases of COVID-19 were identified last week in Fresno County, pushing the rate of new infections in the county to its highest level in more than three months. The tally saw the rate of new infections jump to 8.1 per day for every 100,000 residents — a rate that is higher than it’s been since early April.
“We feel like we’re on the cusp of a surge statewide,” said Dr. Rais Vohra, interim county health officer, “and I think our region here in Fresno County will also be experiencing that same uptick in numbers.”
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all state employees, as well as healthcare workers in private and public sectors, to provide proof of vaccinations or undergo weekly testing for infections. New York City and San Francisco ordered their employees to do the same.
Tuesday, Los Angeles city employees were told to get vaccinated or undergo testing. The White House ordered its staff to start wearing masks again, and President Biden weighed whether to order federal civilian workers to get vaccinated or face testing.
The federal Centers for Disease Control on Tuesday recommended that all people, even those who have been vaccinated, start wearing masks again indoors where COVID cases are rebounding.
When asked if Fresno County qualifies as a region where indoor masking should resume, Dr. Stephanie Koch-Kumar, senior epidemiologist for county public health, said the following: “Based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorization, Fresno County’s ‘level of community transmission’ is substantial with case trends increasing, so we would meet the new CDC recommendation ‘for fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.’”
On Wednesday California public health officials recommended all residents wear face coverings in indoor public settings, regardless of their vaccination status.
The Delta variant of the COVID virus is what is the problem. It is a highly contagious form that is hitting unvaccinated people hardest.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that students return to in-person instruction this fall, but wear face masks because of how children younger than 12 cannot yet be vaccinated.
Masks and vaccines
The past year and a half has shown how COVID is a formidable foe. Due to how transmittable it is, there is little “local control” that can be effective other than getting vaccinated and wearing face masks, which is the easiest way to limit spread.
It would be better for Clovis Unified trustees to spend their energy on encouraging those steps rather than a reactionary resolution that ignores common sense. Clovis Unified may be different from other districts when it comes to education, as Fogg said, but it is no more special than anywhere else when it comes to the pandemic.
Clovis parents, meanwhile, have to face the realities of this time with courage and steadfastness. If their children are struggling, parents need to help them rise above frustrations and learn how to endure this pandemic. That life lesson will be worth a lot.
Children are amazingly resilient — they can wear face coverings for as long as it takes. The Clovis district board should return the focus to learning, and let the classes begin with masks on faces.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 12:05 PM.