Last week, the State of California Department of Public Health released new guidance stating the mandate will continue for all students in California to wear masks for in-person schooling. This came the same day the Federal government (Center for Disease Control) released new guidelines saying vaccinated students and teachers no longer need to wear masks in the classrooms. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve heard “follow the science,” but now the State has decided to not follow the science.

San Diego County has done an excellent job protecting our most vulnerable. Our Public Health officials have poured their energy into caring for our most vulnerable and protecting those with potential to experience significant effects caused by this virus. Thankfully, the virus does not cause significant or severe effects for children. As awful as the last year has been, it could have been even worse if our young people suffered the way our most vulnerable have.

Life is about weighing and managing risks, and I believe we aren’t managing them correctly. There has been a 24 percent increase in suicides among California teenagers, with 134 deaths in the last 12 months. We need to weigh all the risks to keeping kids out of school and forcing them to wear masks.

Adults are supposed to sacrifice to protect kids, we no longer need these actions for kids in order to protect adults, especially when there is a vaccine widely available to protect all vulnerable adults.

The California Department of Public Health has now backtracked saying, “California’s school guidance will be clarified regarding masking enforcement, recognizing local schools’ experience in keeping students and educators safe while ensuring schools fully reopen for in-person instruction.”

The fight will continue, but in this time of division, let’s come to this agreement, for our kids. At this point in the COVID-19 response it’s simple: Parents should decide if masks are right for their kids.

Jim Desmond

– San Diego County District 5 Supervisor