Following pleas from parents and students to immediately end the mask mandate, the Templeton Unified School District board on Tuesday voted to continue the mask mandate until March 12th.
Starting March 12th, district officials will still strongly recommend that students wear masks at school, but doing so will be optional. The policy is in line with the state of California’s new school mask guidelines that were issued earlier this week.
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of people attended a special meeting to discus whether the district should comply with state mandates or immediately end the mask mandate. Of the 15 public speakers, all but one asked the board to allow parents to determine if their children wear masks to school. One parent argued that children need to wear masks because of health concerns.
The school board voted 4-1 to make masks optional after March 12th, and to strongly recommend that students keep wearing masks.
