DAVIS, Calif. — Indoor mask mandates for Davis Joint Unified School District students and staff are staying in place until April 11 despite the state lifting its requirement.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said Monday would be the first school day without a mask mandate, but not every district in the state is following suit.
Officials with Davis Joint Unified said mid-April was chosen to drop the mask mandate to provide students and staff time to make health-related decisions and protect against a possible COVID-19 surge following spring break.
"DJUSD will continue many of the important COVID-19 mitigation measures currently in place, including the use of HEPA air filters in all classrooms, upgraded HVAC filters, weekly onsite testing, ongoing reminders about healthy habits and providing free high-quality face masks to staff and students," the district wrote in a statement.
Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) said last week it is keeping its mask mandate in place for students, staff and visitors through spring break.
At a special meeting last Tuesday, the Board of Education decided the district would follow the COVID-19 community levels meter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"That is ultimately what our board decided was to wait those four weeks to be really cautious — make sure that our case rates are really down (and) we're not seeing another variant coming," said Victoria Flores, Director of Student Support and Health Services at SCUSD.
The earliest that could happen would be April 18.
Schools districts in California can adopt a mask optional policy, although districts can adopt stricter guidelines as they see fit.
Other school districts keeping mask mandates past March 12 include:
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