CALIFORNIA (Times Media Service) – Schools across California are struggling with the concept of teaching students that have half of their face covered with a mask. Similarly, these same students struggle with teachers whose faces they can’t see.
As more groups come forward to challenge the state’s mandates, more than anyone else, it is these students that are losing. With hospital emergency room jams slowly clearing within the last few months and infection levels steadily ticking under what they were before the Omicron surge, Sacramento is still forcing our children to attempt to learn in an environment that is not anywhere close to normal.
On February 15th, the California Department of Public Health reset the state masking requirements back to pre-omicron levels- except, of course, for schools and medical facilities.
That being said, however, the question becomes thus: what is the future for our schools? California Department of Public Health has said that they will be reviewing masking in schools on February 28th, but can popular community pressure provoke a response?
TMS received inside information, stating that the state may change the masking at schools to the same minimum requirement that is mandated statewide, and is the requirement in most counties. Those who are vaccinated are advised to mask themselves, but not required to, though the unvaccinated are.
Now, this may sound like a step forwards, but this will create another dilemma for our school districts. Namely, how do they decide who is vaccinated and who is not?
One thing is for sure; the issues stem from the decisions and lawmaking of the Democrat elect, though they will, of course, be walking back much of the solid lawmaking come election time.
Now that Newsom has announced the “next phase” Covid-19 response plan in San Bernardino on Thursday, will this be enough to satisfy the voters that are completely done with the masks? Will it even satisfy those that think higher health standards are required?
Newsom’s comment, “What we’re announcing here today is about turning a page”, looks to be a little too late. “We have all come to understand what was not understood at the beginning of this crisis, that there is no end date, that there is not a moment where we declare victory despite so many of the metaphors that were used during this pandemic”. Newsom continues, “The war metaphors where we said, ‘We will defeat this virus’.”
Now the Governor’s “SMARTER” (Shots, Masks, Awareness, Readiness, Testing, and Rx) plan comes with the shift from the previous variants, to where we are today with Omicron.
As more Democratic states are removing many of the restrictions, there is new pressure on California to take a different approach to Covid-19. Many Californians are swiftly losing their appetite for further mandates and far-reaching lawmaking, much of which seems entirely arbitrary.
The Democratic Legislature’s leadership in Sacramento has drawn the line to force their body to stand behind the Newsom, but with spreading dissatisfaction as per their choices and the looming possibility of a Red political shift, they will be forced to address the issues come the next primary.
Some more liberal districts may decide to keep the restrictions, where most all of the more conservatives’ districts will only follow the state’s minimum requirements or pressure school board trustees to break the law.
So, what’s the bottom line? Vaccinated students may have relaxed restrictions in schools, but the non-vaccinated could be forced to continue wearing the masks. The other possibility could be the removal of masks in school completely. But, then again, who even knows whether this will change once the ‘correct thinkers’ are in office?
Robert Stine / Lead Writer and Editor (Times Media Service)
rstine@timesmediaservice.com
