The president of San Diego’s public school district said Monday that kids who aren’t comfortable wearing masks in the classroom should just stay home instead of returning to school.
The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) began requiring masks at all schools and district offices Monday, citing the fact that San Diego County is now classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a high-risk community due to COVID-19 transmission and hospitalizations, according to KUSI San Diego. President Sharon Whitehurst-Payne said Monday evening the mandate will remain in place beyond summer school and into the fall if the country remains at a high risk level.
“They can go to our school that’s online. They can opt not to return to the regular school, but to go to the school where they don’t have to go to school at all other than via Zoom.”
–@sdschools President Whitehurst-Payne on those who don’t want to mask.pic.twitter.com/xG9KyM9oHT
— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) July 19, 2022
“One week of summer school for elementary children, another two weeks for the high school students, and we’re going to implement that in the fall if the rates are still high,” Whitehurst-Payne said. She added that if kids don’t want to wear masks, they shouldn’t be in school.
“For the fall, there are some options. They can go to our school that’s online, they can opt not to return to the regular school but to go to school where they don’t have to go to school at all, other than via Zoom,” she said. Kids who were already enrolled in in-person summer school “really should wear the mask.”
If they still aren’t comfortable masking, “They should just make it known that they don’t feel comfortable, and at that point just not return,” she said. (RELATED: Healthcare Execs Cashed In For Billions Thanks To COVID)
Los Angeles County is also bringing back an indoor mask mandate based on CDC community risk classifications. More COVID-19 hawks are pushing for new mandates as hospitalizations tick up across the country, even if the hospitalizations aren’t actually caused by the coronavirus.