State health officials in California said this week that masks will be required for public schools in the fall, but enforcement would left up to the local districts.
According to Cal Matters, some school districts with smaller numbers of students will not require or enforce masks in classrooms.
Amy Alzina, the superintendent/principal of Cold Spring School District in Santa Barbara, said her district - comprised of an elementary school of 198 students – will not enforce the wearing of masks if the state does not.
The executive director of the Small School Districts Association (SSDA) told Cal Matters that masks aren’t needed in smaller districts.
Tim Taylor said many districts and schools in the SSDA, which represents districts serving fewer than 5,000 students, were in class last year without masks or COVID outbreaks.
A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said county health agencies will set the guidelines for school districts and the wearing of masks.
It was unclear whether or not the state would penalize school districts that did not enforce the wearing of masks.
Alzina was quoted in Cal Matters as saying the threat of fines and/or punishment would be the only way her students would be required to wear masks.