Schools take varied approaches to mask mandates
Coverings required for indoor events, but only recommended outdoors
West Las Vegas School District Superintendent Chris Gutierrez had face masks on his mind well before Wednesday.
Gutierrez instituted a mask-wearing mandate for all fans prior to West Las Vegas High School’s season-opening football game Aug. 19. He called it a trial balloon for the next step — masks for everyone at all outdoor district athletic events.
“First and foremost, it’s about safety,” Gutierrez said. “Because I have kids that either haven’t been vaccinated or can’t be vaccinated yet, we just figured we have to keep them safe.”
The district was among the first to require masks for its athletes participating in outdoor athletic events in the 2021-22 school year. Gutierrez announced the decision Wednesday, a day after the state Public Education Department’s bungled message regarding mask-wearing at outdoor athletic events.
After initially requiring all athletes, coaches and spectators to wear masks as part of its updated COVID-19 guidance to public and charter schools Tuesday morning, the agency abruptly reversed course by the evening. It now merely recommends outdoor mask-wearing to school districts and charter schools.
Masks are still required for everyone attending indoor athletic events.
But as districts make decisions about how to handle outdoor events, it’s possible there will be little consistency from district to district, or even team to team.
In Las Vegas, Gutierrez said he was
spurred in part by the rising coronavirus case count in San Miguel County, which reported a record-high 38 cases Tuesday. He added he felt it was a necessary step to help the district avoid a return to remote learning, which has happened already at multiple schools around the state as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
“It’s to protect the kids and the staff,” Gutierrez said. “I can’t say what people are doing outside of school or even outside of our town. I mean, I don’t know where you’ve been, and you don’t know where I’ve been. So I figured the safest thing to do is to mask up, wash our hands and follow our COVID protocols.”
West Las Vegas High School athletic director Richard Tripp said visiting teams and fans will be required to wear masks at West Las Vegas’ outdoor home games. He added Dons teams will wear masks for road games, regardless of the opposing school’s mask requirements.
St. Michael’s athletic director Kevin Garcia said the school is not requiring mask-wearing for outdoor events, and he would have to talk with school administrators about making any changes. That means fans attending Saturday’s Capital-St. Michael’s football game will not have to wear masks.
Santa Fe Public Schools athletic director Marc Ducharme said Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez and the school board are discussing mask-wearing options and could have a decision by next week, before the highly anticipated Sept. 3 football game between Santa Fe High and St. Michael’s. The game generally is the district’s best-attended sporting event, drawing 2,500 to 4,000 spectators.
Currently, outdoor athletic events do not require anyone to wear a mask, and Ducharme said the goal, at the very least, is to allow athletes to play mask-free.
“I think Larry and the board want to take a good look at it and make a decision, like they did with masks [for all students, teachers and staff] for the school year,” Ducharme said. “We have only one home soccer game [on Thursday] this week, and that crowd naturally socially distances themselves. But we have to get something in place for the 3rd for St. Mike’s.”
Santa Fe Prep athletic director Todd Kurth said his school is not requiring masks for vaccinated athletes and fans at its events. He added that will continue until the Public Education Department says differently.
“If you’re vaccinated and outside, we don’t think the science says there is a risk yet,” Kurth said. “Unless we are forced to or public opinion is so overwhelming, I think that we are going to try to remain unmasked if you’re vaccinated.”
Tripp said he anticipates the Public Education Department eventually will mandate mask-wearing outdoors if coronavirus case counts remain high. The state is averaging more than 800 cases per day over the last nine days, and the daily case count has steadily risen since July 1 when it reported only 87 cases.
“The bottom line to a lot of this is we all got to do our part if we want to continue seeing our kids play,” Tripp said. “That is the key to the whole thing, so we’re going to do our part and do what we need to do.”