Mask opt-outs spark fears in some parents
Clauses defeat purpose of mandates, they say
As alarm grew over the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant as Arizona schools opened for the fall, parent Daniel Quist was relieved when his district took up a mask mandate.
But that relief quickly faded when he learned that families would be able to opt out. The form on the website of Litchfield Elementary School District, where two of his children attend school, did not ask parents to state a reason for not participating, or list any medical need.
“It’s just not going to work,” said Quist, who has children in second and fifth grade. When he picks up his children from school, he said, only about half of their classmates are masked. “It’s absolutely worthless.”
Despite legislation passed by Arizona lawmakers that prohibits district-level decision-making on masks or vaccines, 14 school districts in metro Phoenix have implemented COVID-19 mask mandates since students began returning for in-person learning last month.
Many of those districts also have offered an opt-out clause that allows families and staff members to request masking accommodations. Those range from requiring doctor’s notes to the option to avoid masking for unstated reasons.
Some parents in those school districts worry an opt-out clause in some cases could just have the same effect as no mask mandate: allowing teachers or parents ideologically or otherwise opposed to masking to come to school, or have their children come to school, without a face covering.
As students returned to school buildings this fall, those age 12 and older are eligible to be vaccinated, but younger students are not.
Vaccine safety studies in children 5 to 11 are likely to be finished early this fall, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have said, with trials for younger children probably not ready until the end of 2021 or early next year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended universal masking in K-12 schools this summer in response to the fast-spreading delta variant of the coronavirus but noted that exceptions could be made for people who cannot wear a mask because of a disability or for whom wearing a mask would impact their ability to perform their job.
Some districts offer details on opt-out requests
The Arizona Republic asked the 14 metro Phoenix districts for information on those formally opting out.
Those districts show opt-out numbers from 16% to 0.03%.
Two districts, Litchfield Elementary School District and Roosevelt Elementary School District, did not respond to requests for their opt-out approach. Four districts did not provide information on the percentage of students opting out of masks, some because they do not offer a formal opt-out policy.
Of the districts that responded, the Paradise Valley Unified School District had the highest opt-out rate, at about 7% for elementary students and 16% for the secondary level, and the Tempe Elementary School District the lowest.
In a statement, the Paradise Valley district said it has a multi-layered mitigation approach that includes a self-assessment of health and requiring the use of masks for most students.
“PVSchools continues to call on our community to take the necessary steps to keep our students in-person and healthy,” it said.
Phoenix Union High School District, the first district in the state to impose a mask mandate in defiance of the state ban, said it doesn’t offer an “opt out” option for masking indoors.
Other districts only allow students with medical accommodations — and doctor’s notes to prove it — to decline to wear a mask indoors.
Tempe Union High School District’s masking guidelines stress that even vaccinated individuals should wear masks.
The district doesn’t offer families a formal opt-out policy, but the guidelines suggest that students who need special modifications or have trouble wearing a mask should prioritize wearing one when not socially distanced from other people, and that teachers and staff could wear a clear mask, or one with a clear panel, to assist in difficulties if a student needs to see their mouth.
A small number of students, fewer than 10, of a student body of 13,000, have left in-person school and moved to the district’s online-only program shortly after the mask mandate, according to a spokesperson.
Washington Elementary School District asks parents to sign a form with their child’s name and their signature opting out of masks but does not specifically ask them to write a reason.
The district saw the second largest percentage of opt-outs, with 1,499 students, or 7.5% of the student body, opted out of wearing masks. A total of 928 staff has done so so far as well, though a spokesperson clarified that many did so they could remove their masks when not around others.
Legislature’s mask mandate looms
Even as some parents see the reason for a medical opt-out, the idea of any unmasked students is disappointing.
Parent Genevieve Vega, whose daughter is in middle school in Tempe Elementary School District, said that her daughter, who is neurodiverse, willingly wears a mask every day in school, also for the safety of other students.
While many face coverings protect the wearer, they are most effective at keeping the wearer from spreading the virus to others.
“I recognize the need to put my child in in-person school,” Vega said. “If the most I can do is keep her masked, then I’m going to do that.”
Even as districts continue to engage with the reality of mask wearing, a deadline looms. On Sept. 29, the mask mandate passed by the Arizona Legislature this summer will take effect.
Some school districts have set an end date for their mask mandate to coincide with when the state law will go into effect: the masking rules at Scottsdale Unified will expire Sept. 29 unless a court rules the state law unenforceable or unconstitutional.
Those for Litchfield Elementary School District and Paradise Valley Unified School District expire Sept. 28.
Others, like that at Phoenix Union High School District, don’t have an expiration date unless the governing board or executive team move to shift it.