Jake Rideout was Cayucos Elementary School’s librarian for the past nine years and taught a STEAM course for the last six. But when the school district’s board of trustees passed a Let Them Breathe resolution last month, Rideout made the decision to leave the district.
“I loved that school,” she told New Times. “It was such a tiny community, everybody knew everybody. One class of kids go all the way from kindergarten to eighth grade, which is such a magical thing.”
Despite her otherwise positive experience, Rideout said she couldn’t stand idly by when she heard the news that the resolution, which asked the state to remove COVID-19 masking requirements in schools, had passed.
“We didn’t hear a word about [the resolution] until Aug. 2 when the ParentSquare [notification] came out with the information,” Rideout said.
Two days later at the Aug. 4 board meeting, the resolution passed.
“Teachers definitely felt pretty blindsided by it,” Rideout said.
A couple of days later, she resigned.
“I knew that if the board supported that track that I was not going to be coming back,” Rideout said.
A month after passing the resolution, the Cayucos Elementary School District board of trustees unanimously rescinded it at a Sept. 8 board meeting. But before it was rescinded, board President Chris Castillo confirmed in a Sept. 1 email that the board followed through on the resolution’s commitment to “advocate in writing to the CDPH [California Department of Public Health] to remove mandatory requirements for preventative measures such as masks, quarantine, and asymptomatic testing.”
Castillo also told New Times that there is 100 percent compliance with masking rules.
Some parents say otherwise. Cayucos parent Paul Andreano called Castillo’s statement “100 percent not true.”
“There has not been 100 percent compliance at Cayucos school with the mask mandate,” Andreano said in a Sept. 2 email. “There have been instances of teachers not wearing masks as well as entire classes not wearing them while indoors. … They are not enforcing the CDPH guidelines as they would have you believe.”
Parent Erika Torres made similar allegations. She told New Times that when she picked her son up from the district’s after-school program (ASP), masks were not being worn.
“At ASP, there were three occasions when … there was a lack of masking and compliance, lack of following the California Department of Public Health guidelines that I personally observed, and I addressed that each time,” Torres said. “Finally, after the third week of school, I told the principal I was no longer sending my son to ASP because I was worried about his safety.”
Parent Craig Owens said at the Sept. 8 board meeting that there were already COVID-19 cases in his kids’ classes.
“My son’s seventh grade class, five of his classmates are in quarantine. Two are confirmed COVID-positive, and at least one is already sick with fever and sore throat,” Owens said. “My daughter’s fifth grade class, at least one child is in quarantine. My unvaccinated 10-year-old daughter’s teacher was giving the class mask breaks to herself and her students until I complained to the principal and the teacher herself.”
Owens told New Times that he doesn’t fault the faculty. He thinks the onus falls on the board leadership.
“When they pass a resolution like Let Them Breathe, it makes it seem like masking isn’t to be taken seriously,” Owens said. “If people are on the fence, they’re going to look to leadership to provide an example.”
But, Owens added, “it definitely makes me feel better” that the resolution was rescinded.
“It’s great that it’s rescinded because it means, at the very least, maybe any teacher or faculty on the fence can say, ‘Hey they rescinded this, so I’ll wear mine then,'” Owens said. “Maybe it will sway somebody.”
Owens added that when he brought mask noncompliance to the attention of the school administration, the situation was quickly remedied.
“I feel like the teachers and the principal are really doing a good job of listening to our concerns,” Owens said. “I think it’s very difficult to be the mask police. … I can honestly say that they listened to me, and I really appreciate their efforts. I feel my concerns did not fall on deaf ears.”
When asked to respond to parent claims about mask compliance, board President Castillo said, “I have heard nothing to make me change my initial statement.”
Andreano, Torres, Owens, and dozens of other parents attended the Sept. 8 meeting. The board voted 5-0 to rescind Let Them Breathe, though some board members expressed that they still stand behind the concepts of mask choice and local control that the resolution promotes.
Parents who spoke at the meeting were split: Seven people during public comment supported rescinding the resolution, while six expressed support for parts of the resolution like mask choice, vaccine choice, and local control.
Parent Alisha Enns supported parental choice.
“If you want to mask your child, then I 100 percent respect your right as a parent to make that decision for your family, just like I respect your decision to get your child vaccinated,” Enns said. “What I will not respect is your demand that I do the same for my children. … A vote to rescind shows weakness and a willingness to cower to bullies.”
As New Times reported on Sept. 2, SLO County Superintendent of Schools Jim Brescia said initial reports from schools since reopening show adherence to masking throughout the county. SLO County Public Health Department spokesperson Michelle Shoresman said schools face substantial legal, financial, and other risks if they do not follow masking requirements.
Former librarian Rideout said she feels for people on both sides of the debate. But she stands by her decision to resign.
“I do feel for the parents who want to protect their children from whatever mental health consequences there are from wearing a mask—I feel for that situation,” Rideout said. “But I also think that the actual physical safety of students is paramount. I encourage parents to keep that in mind, that the greater good is wearing masks right now.” Δ
Reach Staff Writer Malea Martin at mmartin@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Autumn Arts Annual 2021.
So Jake Rideout is ok with the mental consequences of mask wearing on children. Of course she has taken the time to research the physical effects of mask wearing, like continually inhaling that moist, bacteria laden, CO2 air, right?
Sad to see the school board buckle and especially sad to see the parents pushing for mask wearing.
Mental consequences of mask wearing. For one you are likely to be safe from COVID, flue and other colds. It is a challenge for kids to wear a mask as it is for many adults, but scientific studies show for the safety of the individual, teachers, people you pass shopping, people you work with, customers, etc.,it could save you from being very sick and/or dying.
Have you noticed we went through a whole winter wearing masks and most of us did not get the flu or colds. So I guess we washed our masks and the bacteria that collected did not harm us.
There are some fact resistant humans who somehow in their education in America have not been taught to check for themselves fact based science. The past president and some news stations are doing Americans a disservice not accepting scientific, proven facts–simply wearing a mask can literally save your life and those you come into contact.
You can go on line to see children in NYC during the 1918 flu pandemic taking their instruction outside in the winter wearing masks bundled up under coats and blankets. These children had parents who understood the danger of the pandemic and did all they could to be safe and resilient. We too need to care about everyone in our community especially children since they have not been able to get the vaccinations yet.
You need to be alive to consider your mental health. Parents, read or have someone with sufficient knowledge to read and understand the science provide the findings for you. Even if you don’t believe your children are at risk, consider the risk of yourselves, their teachers, and others at higher risk with whom they may come in contact. Me, me, me is not the relevant/appropriate approach to the pandemic.
There is no difference between Arizona (mask optional) v. Lucia Mar (mask mandate) after two months. A .003 difference .003. Case rate % LMUSD 0.0174; Wickenburg AZ0.0208; Scottsdale AZ 0.0215; Gilbert AZ 0.0223 – See Covid case data tracker (data taken from school Covid dashboards)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Mv1BqrCC5ZV9Ky1kczuuIMlTzypfm9HLu809CBaqMjU/edit#gid=1684960168
Kids get 20 minutes in their cloth mask of limited protection. After that the masks simply don’t work. The kids are indoors in classes for way past that – and are not getting sick or dying – it is time to take the masks off. See Biden Admin Task Force findings. In the UK – kids were unmasked through the Delta wave and 99.997% of those kids are alive! These restrictions need an off ramp, especially when considering the risk of Covid to the kids themselves.
See Biden Admin task force at: http://www.acgih.org/covid-19-fact-sheet-worker-resp
Countries that mask kids under 6?
USA – Yes.
World Health Org – No
EU CDC – No
UK – No
France – No
Ireland – No
Netherlands – No
Norway – No
Sweden – No
Finland – No
Denmark – No
Switzerland – No
Italy – No
Austria – No.
Who is following the science? And who is following political influence?
Since Denmark dropped all COVID-19 restrictions on September 10th, they have seen falling rates of Covid-related hospitalization.
No vax passports, no masks, normal life (even in schools!), and their fully-vaccinated rate is similar to the SF Bay Area at 74.2%
https://data.democratandchronicle.com/covid-19-vaccine-tracker/california/san-francisco-county/06075/
But indeed, Denmark must be masking 3-year-olds since they don’t have access to the vaccine? Oh, wait, no, they’re not – pray for those 3-year-olds over there; their public health authorities should immediately call San Francisco! Where they’d find a Mayor who ‘feels the spirit’ and ignores her own mask mandate.
Ok, well clearly Arizona can explain why Amphi public school (mask mandate) has higher Covid case rate than Vail public schools (mask optional)? If masking works so well, why mask does mask mandatory have more cases 2 months into the school year? And both of these schools have less case % rate than Lucia Mar Unified (mandate) in California.
Amphi: 15 cases (.15). Mandate
Vail: 17 cases (0.12) Optional
Lucia Mar (.174) Mandate
Please join the discussion. Town Hall on September 30 with the UFT and Open Schools US.
https://twitter.com/erichhartmann/status/1442878408615157762?s=20
Recent data from the U.K….unvaccinated children are safer from COVID-19 death than vaccinated adults of any age.
An unvaccinated 10-year-old, who may look like the very picture of COVID vulnerability heading into the school year, faces a lower mortality risk than a vaccinated 25-year-old, whom we might today regard as close to safe as can be.
So again. Why are we masking Kindergarten kids? It’s not to protect the kids that is 100% clear. So for all who have commented on this thread about ‘facts’ and ‘science’ I am providing it and yet you still don’t believe it – you can change your mind. Five year old kids should not bear this burden – and the entire world agrees with this policy approach. Kids under 6 were never masked the entire pandemic in Europe, ever. It is time for union politics to leave this debate and take the masks off the kids – the science is very clear.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/09/covid-19-vaccine-status-age-discrimination.html?utm_source=pocket_mylist
Newtimes – Please delete DC33 comments. These comments are full of dangerous anti mask misinformation and conspiracy theory nonsense. Dangerous, ill informed comments have no place in a reputable news paper.
Newtimes – Please delete DC33 comments. These comments are full of dangerous anti mask misinformation and conspiracy theory nonsense. Dangerous, ill informed comments have no place in a reputable news paper.
There are consequences if you refuse to get a vaccine. Access to many things will be curtailed; you may lose your employment. Your health insurance premiums will increase.
The Republicans and trump, who want to ‘own the libs’, are asserting the will of the minority over the majority, using lies and anger and aggression and violence and oppositional defiance.
Democracy is the will of the majority. Thus they must destroy the process of measuring the will of the majority, called elections.
Thus trump and the Republican Party are fascists. Because, as above, that be what fascists do.
There are consequences if you refuse to wear get a vaccine. Access to many things will be curtailed; you may lose your employment. Your health insurance premiums will increase.
The Republicans and trump, who want to ‘own the libs’, are asserting the will of the minority over the majority, using lies and anger and aggression and violence and oppositional defiance.
Democracy is the will of the majority. Thus they must destroy the process of measuring the will of the majority, called elections.
Thus trump and the Republican Party are fascists. Because, as above, that be what fascists do.
There are consequences if you refuse to get a vaccine. Access to many things will be curtailed; you may lose your employment. Your health insurance premiums will increase.
The Republicans and trump, who want to ‘own the libs’, are asserting the will of the minority over the majority, using lies and anger and aggression and violence and oppositional defiance.
Democracy is the will of the majority. Thus they must destroy the process of measuring the will of the majority, called elections.
Thus trump and the Republican Party are fascists. Because, as above, that be what fascists do.
Newtimes, please delete DC33 comments. They are pure falsehoods, misinformation and dangerous anti mask nonsense. Masks protect the health of children as well as adults. They save lives.