More superintendents oppose LA County masking policies
LA County superintendents opposed county mask mandate
Two more Los Angeles County superintendents expressed their opposition to the county's school masking policy Wednesday. The now 26 superintendents say they want the county to align with the state when it comes to masking policies for students who may have come in close contact with someone who's tested positive for COVID.
LOS ANGELES - Two more superintendents of Los Angeles County districts are joining a group calling for the county to align its COVID masking policies with the state of California's.
Two dozen superintendents signed and sent a letter to the LA County Department of Public Health Tuesday, requesting the department align with the State on its policy of 10-day indoor masking of close contacts with COVID-19. Wednesday, the superintendents of the Arcadia Unified School District and Glendora Unified School District joined the call to change the policy.
Currently, LA County has a mandate in place requiring people who are in close contact with someone with COVID-19 to wear a highly protective mask around others for 10 days. The state only recommends masking for 10 days in close contact cases versus requiring it.
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Alex Cherniss, the Superintendent of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, wrote the letter.
"Once again, we're asking for common sense safety and security protocols so we're able to effectively run our schools. Students that are asymptomatic, and don't have COVID at all are being required to wear a mask for 10 days, and it causes problems for us," Cherniss said. "We don't want to be the mask police. We think it's hard to manage and it's unnecessary so we're asking the county to align with the state."
LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger came out in support of the change as well Wednesday. "Our County's masking policies should be fully aligned with the state's requirements. Period," Barger said in a statement to FOX 11. "School district leaders know their students, families and communities best… I'm hopeful that the Department of Public Health will reconsider its school masking directives…"
Last week, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told FOX 11's Marla Tellez that she had "a hard time understanding" the opposition to the policy.
FOX 11 has reached out to the Department of Public Health for an updated statement, but has not yet heard back.