REVISED MASK CHOICE RESOLUTION proposed to Irvine Unified School District Board of Education- Precedent Has Been Established!
Replaces Resolution submitted in December 2021 and January 2022
This post was updated on Feb 12 2022 @ 3:58 with the following edits made: reference to teachers being carved out of the Roseville Joint High School resolution was removed. Although it was mentioned in the ABC article/video that “carve outs” for teachers were discussed because teacher safety in the work place falls under the jurisdiction of Cal OSHA- there is a section in the Roseville Joint High School approved resolution that states “WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees are strong proponents of individual responsibility and personal choice, such that students, their families, and staff members can generally make their own decisions about their personal health outcomes….” A reader pointed out the inconsistency in stating that there are “teacher carve outs” yet there is a paragraph in the approved resolution that supports personal choice for staff members. Taking that paragraph of the resolution into consideration, one could draw the conclusion that teachers are being allowed personal choice on masking since whether or not to mask could affect one’s personal health outcome. Some teachers may feel (based on personal health outcomes) that masks have more of an adverse affect than protective affect. That same paragraph is included in the resolution proposed for Irvine Unified School District.
An additional edit was made to proposed IUSD resolution that adds “as an option” to teachers in the paragraph of the resolution which reads “Irvine Unified School District will continue to provide respiratory N/KN95 masks “as an option to” teachers….
A new precedent has been established here in California with regards to the pursuit of mask choice in the K-12 setting! News broke last night and early this morning about events that unfolded during the Roseville Joint Union High School Board of Trustees meeting held Thursday February 10th. A Resolution Regarding Mask Mandates for students was on the agenda. The meeting lasted 4 hours and 21 minutes. Students, parents and community members shared their public comments. In the end the resolution- which advocates for mask choice for all students- was approved in a 4-0 vote by Roseville Joint Union High School Board of Trustees. This is no doubt a “win” and a step in the right direction for our youth towards regaining their freedoms in the school setting. Hopefully this serves as a catalyst for other districts in the state to come forward and show some courage by following in the footsteps of Roseville Joint who has paved the way for them. I found it revealing that in the approved resolution, Roseville Trustees explicitly state “CDPH and Governor Newsom have not responded to any of our past attempts at communication on this topic….the burden of proof regarding mask efficacy to continue masking school-age children lies with the State and it has failed to establish the effectiveness of continued student masking with any recent peer-reviewed studies…..the Board believes that the Governor’s K-12 student mask mandate is ill-advised and in opposition to the educational and social-emotional goals of the State and the District…..” You can view the entirety of the approved resolution here. You can view the public comments segment of the February 10th Roseville Joint Union High Board of Trustees meeting here. ABC covered the story, you can read about it here. For those not familiar with Roseville- The Roseville Joint Union High School District serves the educational needs of more than 10,000 students. Geographically, the district includes the city of Roseville, the Granite Bay community, and a part of Antelope. It includes portions of both Placer and Sacramento counties. The district currently operates five comprehensive high schools, a continuation school, adult school, and an independent study school. High Schools are responsible for educating students from three local "partner" K-8 school districts: Dry Creek, Eureka, and Roseville City school districts. (source: Roseville Joint Union Highschool Website). According to the California Department of Education Website, Roseville does not fall within the top 25 largest school districts in the state nor is it considered one of the smallest districts in the state- it’s somewhere in between. That said, the significance of this district getting a formal resolution offering mask choice for students passed cannot be dismissed.
The welcome news from Roseville prompted me to rethink the mask choice resolution that I had drafted for IUSD Board of Education consideration back in December. Although the data and information in that resolution remain current, the IUSD Board of Education denied agendizing it for the December 2021 and January 2022 BOE meetings. In their January denial, they suggested I generalize the resolution and take it up with the state. On Tuesday, February 8, I once again formally requested to the Superintendent Terry Walker and President of IUSD BOE Ira Glasky (in accord with the bylaws) that my mask choice resolution be added to the February 15 agenda. I figured I had nothing to lose and I thought perhaps the “third try would be the lucky charm”. To my surprise, I did not receive a response that my request was denied as I had the past two times. This time, the response I received was “Your request has been received….As shared previously, please consider directing your resolution to the State of California and/or the California Department of Public Health as the topic of student masking falls under their jurisdiction/scope. Further, you can direct your resolution to the California Department, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as CalOSHA, as they are the agency that has jurisdiction over masking of staff.” You can find the District’s full response in the screen shot below.
I was about to take them up on their suggestion of generalizing and trying again at the state level. The news about Roseville broke right as I was reconstructing the resolution I previously proposed in my mind. As soon as I got my hands on the approved resolution and read through it- my first thought was this is perfect for adoption in Irvine Unified School District! I retyped their resolution since it was only available in PDF format. I took out any references from the Roseville Resolution 2206 that were not applicable to Irvine Unified. I added a couple sentences to elaborate on IUSD’s mission and vision as that seemed to fit with the overall spirit of the resolution. The complete text for my revised IUSD Mask Choice resolution (as of Feb 11) is below. After I finished tweaking the resolution (around 10:30am), I decided to check the IUSD website to see if the agenda for the February 15 Board of Education meeting had been posted in accord with the Brown Act. To my surprise, I noticed that a “special meeting” had been scheduled for 11:30am today. Around 11:00am, I sent an email to Superintendent Walker and Board President Glasky with the updated resolution I drafted asking them to agendize it for February 15 Board Of Education meeting based on newly established precedent from Placer County. I attempted to tune in for the 11:30am special meeting but it appears that it was not live streamed. The sole purpose of the special meeting was to establish agreement to postpone the date of the meeting from February 15 to February 16. Evidently the date change was approved by the board as the website now reflects Feb 15 scratched off and replaced with February 16. I’m hopeful the updated resolution I submitted will show up on the agenda. If you feel strongly about mask choice for our K-12 students, I encourage you to contact IUSD District office and Board members to express your view. In addition, I encourage you to sign the “Make Irvine Schools Mask Choice” petition that is currently circulating.
Thank you for tuning in!
A RESOLUTION OF THE IRVINE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION REGARDING MASK MANDATES FOR STUDENTS
WHEREAS, the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) Board of Education has the duty to adopt policies necessary and proper for the efficient administration of the affairs of the District; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Education strongly values preserving student safety, and also strives to balance that safety with the needs of District students to engage in an in-person learning environment; and
WHEREAS, The Board of Education acknowledges its responsibility to require all students equal access to the educational programs of the District in an effort to fulfill the promise of providing the highest quality educational experience envisioned; and
WHEREAS, The Board of Education acknowledges in order to provide the highest quality educational experience envisioned it is dedicated to enabling the the joy of learning for all, Respect for each individual’s worth and uniqueness, a celebration of diversity, an environment that nurtures the quest for quality, a culture founded on relationship and inclusion;
WHEREAS IUSD is highly acclaimed for its commitment to mental health and wellness and launched its campaign “Speak Up, We Care” in 2018 district-wide in support of its commitment to mental health; Students and parents are speaking up expressing their desire for mask choice;
WHEREAS, the Board of Education acknowledges the growing mental health crisis among children and will in all decisions weigh the need for normalcy, acknowledging IUSD’s responsibility to protect not only the physical health of our students, but also the social, emotional, and mental health of our students;
WHEREAS, The Board of Education are strong proponents of individual responsibility and personal choice, such that students, their families, and staff members can generally make their own decisions about their personal health outcomes; and
WHEREAS, COVID-19 vaccines are now available for students five years of age and older for those that choose to obtain them as guided by the students’ wishes, and that of their parents and guardians. In addition, COVID-19 vaccines have been available to District employees, many of which have elected to get vaccinated; and
WHEREAS, testing for COVID-19 and other mitigation measures are readily available at numerous locations throughout the District; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Education has implemented numerous safety mitigation efforts to decrease transmission of COVID-19, including installing MERV-13 filters in schools since July of 2020 and that school maintenance has opened up air exchange systems so classrooms are receiving as much outside air as possible; and
WHEREAS, The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that cloth masks “provide the least protection,” the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) no longer recommends cloth masks, and the Los Angeles County Unified School District banned the use of cloth masks, acknowledging they are ineffective to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the airborne viral pathogen which causes COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, the CDC states that a surgical mask is “loose-fitting” and “does NOT provide the wearer with a reliable level of protection from inhaling smaller airborne particles and is not considered respiratory protection;” and
WHEREAS, the slogan “your mask protects me and my mask protects you,” is obsolete given the new information regarding cloth and surgical mask efficacy, and may lead to students, teachers and staff falsely relying upon masks for protection from infection; and
WHEREAS, in light of many other states and countries ending mask mandates in the absence of evidence supporting them, IUSD no longer feels safe implementing a policy with no proven safety benchmarks; and
WHEREAS, mask policies have shown no positive outcome on our campuses, result in constant disruption, division and behavior problems and have no long term safety studies; and
WHEREAS, CDPH and Governor Newsom have not been open or receptive to adjusting the requirements on this topic despite advocacy from IUSD and members of the IUSD Community. As such, IUSD is taking the initiative to do what is best for the well being of our community; and
WHEREAS, the burden of proof regarding mask efficacy to continue masking school-age children lies with the State and it has failed to establish the effectiveness of continued student masking with any recent peer-reviewed studies.
THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED the Irvine Unified School District will continue to provide respiratory N/KN95 masks as an option to teachers, staff and students on a daily basis and will promote the availability and efficacy of one-way masking with N95 masks;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Irvine Unified School District will not adopt or implement mandatory COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic students as a replacement for adopting a mask optional policy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education recommends, regardless of vaccination status, personal and parent choice with respect to whether or not children, staff and teachers should wear face coverings while at school commencing when the state indoor mask mandate is lifted (currently scheduled for February 15); and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that while the IUSD Board of Education understands the goals of the Governor and CDPH to stop the spread of COVID-19, the Board believes that the Governor’s K-12 student mask mandate is ill-advised and in opposition to the educational and social-emotional goals of the State and the District; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the IUSD Superintendent is directed to transmit this Resolution to Governor Gavin Newsom; Director and State Public Health Officer CDPH, Dr. Tomas J. Aragon; Dr. Mark Ghaly, California Health and Human Services; Orange County Board of Supervisors; Orange County Department of Public Health; Assemblyman Steven Choi; Senator Dave Min; and the Orange County Board of Education to communicate our concerns.
Approved on this date _____________ at Irvine Unified School District Board of Education Meeting
YES ________
NO _________
Absent__________
Abstain ___________