Guest Opinion | The Pandemic Is Not Over: Pasadena Unified Stakeholders Support Delay of Lifting of PUSD’s Indoor Mask Requirement

We are deeply puzzled about how the PUSD Superintendent arrived at his decision at the March 10, 2022 PUSD Board meeting to lift the indoor mask requirement at PUSD schools and childcare sites without any metrics or criteria beforehand to guide the start and end dates for the lifting of such a critical COVID safety measure.  Equally puzzling was the framing of the Board’s decision in Pasadena Now’s March 13 staff report as “It’s Masks Off in Pasadena Schools Monday.” 

Let’s not rush and prematurely lift PUSD’s indoor mask requirement; and if it is lifted, let’s make sure there are metrics or criteria timely identified to guide the start and end dates for lifting of the indoor mask requirement that ensures the safety of all of PUSD children, youth, and families.  

Julieta Aragon, PUSD Parent and Minimum Wage Coordinator for the City of Pasadena says, “With COVID, sometimes you don’t get a second chance, it is literally sometimes a life or death situation.  It’s better to take preventive measures.” 

In fact, considering the PUSD COVID-19 Dashboard weekly trends data, PUSD’s indoor mask requirement should be continued for at least two weeks after Spring Break out of an abundance of caution to avoid another spike in COVID-19 cases.

Health inequity at PUSD

Yes, Pasadena is in the Low (green) CDC tier currently, but state and city health guidance states indoor masking is “strongly recommended” for all individuals in K-12 settings and childcare sites, and that districts may “continue to implement additional requirements that go beyond the statewide guidance based on local circumstances.”

And what are the local circumstances here at PUSD?

Vaccination rates for low-income and Brown/Black households (which make up two-thirds of PUSD’s students and their families) lag far behind the general population, and the PUSD two-thirds majority are also the households with highest risk of COVID infections, severe disease, and deaths.  

Not only are the PUSD two-thirds majority more vulnerable to severe disease as a result of COVID-19, PUSD schools have a an overall vaccination rate of 42%, with rates as low as 16-17 % at some schools!  (Vaccination rates for each PUSD school appear on pages. 5-6 of the PUSD staff presentation given at the March 10 Board meeting.)

Plus CDC data indicates Pfizer vaccine effectiveness for 5-11 year olds is significantly lower than for 12-17 year olds and decreasing over time, on top of warnings of an upcoming Omicron variant BA.2 surge from doctors who specialize in epidemiology (the branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population):  

• On March 8, epidemiologist Dr. Eric Feigi-Ding warned that current Omicron variant BA.2 surges in Hong Kong, the UK, and Northeastern part of the US will advance into a full-scale national surge likely in late April / early May 2022.  Says Dr. Feigi-Dine: “It’s a matter of when (not ‘if’)” and that in Hong Kong, “hospitals and morgues are overflowing” “Hong Kong has never had a surge of this kind before – not until BA2 showed up.”
• On March 14, Dr. Bob Wachter, infectious diseases expert and epidemiologist, posted a 25-part Twitter thread where he also cautioned that with the upcoming BA.2 variant surge, waning protections from vaccinations, infections, or both, and everyone letting down their guard – the United States is “set up for a perfect storm.” 
• On March 16, epidemiologist Dr. Katelyn Jetelina also cautioned: “The U.S. is at a pivotal moment. We can learn from our mistakes to prepare for future mutations and new public health threats. Or we can continue a ‘deadly cycle of panic and neglect’….Other countries, like South Korea and Vietnam, have had very effective responses to SARS-CoV-2…By preparing, they were able to save hundreds of thousands of lives during this pandemic.”  She also notes that our nation’s pivotal moment is coming at a time when federal COVID-19 funds will run out soon:  “This means the government can’t buy more antivirals; preventative treatments for immunocompromised need to be scaled back; funding for monoclonal antibodies will end; and next generation vaccines will be curbed.”

The Biden Administration has also started to take note, with White House officials reported as believing the surge in the UK is attributable to a range of factors, including waning immunity among the vaccinated, transmissibility of the BA.2 variant, and easing of public health restrictions such as indoor mask mandates, all of which they say is present in the US as well.  White House officials also warned the U.S. would soon run out of funds to purchase life-saving drugs, provide free treatments to patients, and adequately distribute tests and masks just as cases begin to spike in the U.S.

While we celebrate advances like PUSD dropping the outdoor mask requirement at K-12 schools, we also need to exercise caution informed by science before lifting such a critical COVID-19 safety measure as PUSD’s indoor mask requirement, to ensure our decisions truly are what is best for our students.  

Another few weeks of maintaining PUSD’s indoor mask requirement to ensure that we are in fact, in a better place, is worth it to avoid playing a game of roulette with our students, staff, and families.  

The pandemic is not over

As much as we all would like life to return to normal, the pandemic is not over, and the virus does not care about individual and personal preferences.  A review of the LA County COVID-19 dashboard shows 3269 new cases and 25 new deaths due to COVID-19 for March 19, 2022 alone.

We are among the signers of the March 10, 2022 Open Letter to PUSD signed by a coalition of PUSD parents, teachers, students, and stakeholders urging PUSD to timely adhere to the most accurate COVID-19 health guidance – including lifting PUSD’s indoor mask requirement only when safe to do so.

As mentioned by LA County Public Health Department Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer: 

“I think people hear that we’re moving away from requiring masking to, ‘It’s fine if you don’t wear it,’ and that’s certainly not our recommendation at all, and certainly not our recommendation at schools,” Ferrer said. “Our recommendation and the state’s recommendation is that everyone keep those masks on at schools.”

Thanks to Board members Tina Fredericks and Patrick Cahalan for supporting delay of lifting of PUSD’s indoor mask requirement.  We hope the Superintendent and rest of the PUSD Board would also follow the science and strong recommendations of public health departments.

Let’s acknowledge the science and the unequal access to health resources that exists within our PUSD community, and do our best to ensure the health and safety of all of PUSD’s children, youth, and families.

In hope,

• Una Lee Jost, Esq., *PUSD Parent, Pasadena resident, and Public Education Advocate

• Gabriela Barron, *PUSD Parent, Pasadena resident, and Public Education Advocate

• David Berk, *PUSD Teacher and Pasadena resident

• Amanda Steiman, Ed.D., *PUSD Parent, Pasadena resident, and Educator

• Jane Potelle, *PUSD Parent, Altadena resident, and Lead Organizer of PUSD Parents for Improved COVID Safety protocols 

• Andrea Davis, Ph.D., *Child Psychologist, Founder and Director of Greenhouse Therapy Center, Pasadena

• Florence Annang, *Director of Thrive!!! Learning Lab of NW Pasadena, Commissioner of the Pasadena Civilian Police Oversight Commission (CPOC), Co-Chair of Pasadenans Organizing for Progress (POP!) and Executive Committee Member of the Pasadena NAACP Branch

*Co-author affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.  The co-authors are among the members of ‘PUSD Stakeholders for Health Equity,’ a newly formed coalition of PUSD parents, teachers, students, and stakeholders who believe in COVID data transparency and PUSD implementing sensible COVID safety measures to ensure PUSD schools is a safe environment for ALL.  Follow PUSD Stakeholders for Health Equity on Facebook: @PUSDHealthEquity 

*The PUSD Board will be meeting this Thursday, March 24, 2022 starting at 5:30 p.m.  PUSD parents, teachers, staff, students, community members, and stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback and input to the PUSD Board regarding modification and execution of PUSD’s COVID-19 safety plan. It is important to ensure PUSD stakeholders representing the diversity of the community are included in decision-making.  You may comment in person or to submit comments in writing, send them by 3 pm on the day of the meeting to superintendent@pusd.us and kenne.kim@pusd.com.  See the full agenda and watch the meeting at: https://www.pusd.us/Page/639   For more information about the PUSD Board, visit: https://www.pusd.us/Page/304