Guest Opinion | The Pandemic Is Not Over: PUSD Superintendent’s Decision to Lift Indoor Mask Requirement Based on Science, and Influenced by PUSD Stakeholders?

We are puzzled by the following quote of the Superintendent in Pasadena Now’s March 13 staff report titled “It’s Masks Off in Pasadena Schools Monday”:

“Our decisions are based on science and influenced by parents, teachers, staff, and, above all, our students,” Superintendent Brian McDonald said Friday in a community email.”

We have not been able to find evidence of any of these bases for the Superintendent’s decision to lift PUSD’s indoor mask requirement.

PUSD decisions influenced by parents, teachers, staff and students?

Ahead of the March 10 PUSD Board meeting and presentation of PUSD staff’s recommendation to lift the indoor mask requirement, the city health department had stated:

“School districts and campuses may continue to require masking at schools and during school activities, and are encouraged to consult with teachers, staff, parents and students as they consider the appropriate safety protections for their school community, recognizing that many individuals may want to continue additional protections.”

Unfortunately, there was no meaningful effort by PUSD to consult with parents, teachers, students, and stakeholders prior to PUSD’s decision to lift the indoor mask requirement, as encouraged by the city health department.

Many within the PUSD community were caught off-guard that PUSD was even considering lifting the indoor mask requirement. We do not consider the Superintendent’s March 8 community email sent after 5 pm just two days days prior to the March 10 PUSD Board meeting to be adequate notice for PUSD’s working families. Plus, his email never mentioned which “proposed changes to PUSD’s indoor mask guidelines” were being considered by PUSD. The Board agenda never mentioned PUSD staff’s recommendation to lift the indoor mask requirement, only referencing the discussion as a Staff Presentation item under Agenda H, “COVID Updates and Communication Campaign Presentation.”

In addition, the majority of public comments submitted for the March 10 Board meeting supported continuing PUSD’s indoor mask requirement. An Open Letter to PUSD was signed by a significant number 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, in alignment with CDC’s new COVID-19 Community Levels recommendations (e.g. when case rates are in the Low (green) CDC tier for a sustained interval and there are no variants of concern that appear to be a threat).

We were also surprised the Superintendent and Board majority dismissed the reasonable request of Dr. Allison Steppes, President of United Teachers of Pasadena, to wait until after Spring Break to lift PUSD’s indoor mask requirement, especially as UTP is a coalition of 800 PUSD teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, psychologists, and speech-language pathologists who are closest to the situation as frontline workers and have most at stake.

In contrast, CalTech, along with other institutions of higher education such as Pasadena City College, which has a much higher vaccination rate than PUSD schools by virtue of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all employees and students (including a booster shot), has chosen to continue its indoor mask requirement at all instructional sites until after Spring Break, along with required twice weekly PCR-based surveillance testing of all staff and students and free high-quality masks for all staff and students.

Certain PUSD Board members seem swayed by concerns expressed that masking is difficult for students with speech and language development issues or special needs, as a basis for lifting PUSD’s indoor mask requirement. However, statewide health guidance already includes exemptions to mask requirements for students with disabilities. In fact, the State sent a January 22 public memo to all Superintendents reminding districts that they “must continue to monitor the applicability of any existing allowable exemptions.”

PUSD’s decisions based on science?

We also wonder about what “science” PUSD is basing its decision on to lift the indoor mask requirement.

At the March 10 Board meeting, the Superintendent represented that he would have metrics for when the indoor mask requirement would be reinstated before sending out his community email announcing the lifting of the requirement, but his March 11 community email didn’t identify any metrics or criteria to guide the start and end dates for lifting of the mask mandate.

In addition, the Superintendent’s March 11 community email conveys mixed messaging regarding the importance of indoor masking.

Health departments all stress the importance of continued indoor masking in K-12 settings:

“After March 11, the universal masking requirement for K-12 and Childcare settings will terminate. CDPH strongly recommends that individuals in these settings continue to mask in indoor settings when the universal masking requirement lifts. (CDPH face mask guidance)

“Masks remain one of the most effective and simplest safety mitigation layers to prevent transmission of COVID-19 infections. High quality masks, particularly those with good fit and filtration, offer protection to the wearer and optimal source control to reduce transmission to others. To best protect students and staff against COVID-19, CDPH currently strongly recommends continuing to mask indoors in school settings.” (CDPH COVID-19 guidance for K-12 Schools)

“Masking is strongly recommended for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, in indoor public spaces because transmission remains a significant risk for many in Pasadena and across Los Angeles County and state. Surgical masks or respirators (e.g., N95s, KN95s, KF94s) with good fit remain highly recommended.” (PPHD Updated Mask Recommendations)

However, the Superintendent’s March 11 community email normalizes not wearing masks, stating:

If it is indeed PUSD’s policy to follow health guidelines, the Superintendent should be conveying clearly to the PUSD community, without equivocation, that PUSD strongly recommends continued indoor masking.

And the Superintendent should be cultivating a culture in which all Board members, teachers, and staff model indoor masking as the norm – which means the tone must be set from the top.

Here’s how the Superintendent could have rephrased the language in his March 11 community email, to actually “state clearly” health guidance regarding indoor masking:

The Superintendent could also refrain from efforts to normalize being indoors unmasked by not featuring photos of unmasked children in PUSD communications such as his March 14 community email.

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.
We hope the Superintendent would set the tone at the top in heeding the strong recommendations of health departments to continue indoor masking in K-12 settings. We also hope the Superintendent would provide opportunities for robust input and feedback as PUSD modifies and executes PUSD’s COVID-19 Safety Plan, ensuring parents representing the diversity of our PUSD community are included in PUSD’s decision-making.

Let’s make sure we 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, & 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, community members, 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