County supervisor, more superintendents oppose LA County school masking policy

More Los Angeles County officials joining calls for the county to change its COVID-19 masking guidelines after a group of superintendents signed and sent a letter to the public health department about its close-contact masking requirement.

On Tuesday, 24 of Los Angeles County’s 80 school superintendents sent a letter to the LA County Department of Public Health asking it to change its policy requiring those who are in close contact with a positive COVID-19 case to wear a mask around others for 10 days. It requested the policy align with the state’s, which only recommends masking.

"Once again, we're asking for common sense safety and security protocols so we're able to effectively run our schools. Students that are asymptomatic, and don't have COVID at all are being required to wear a mask for 10 days, and it causes problems for us," wrote Alex Cherniss, the Superintendent of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District and author of the letter.

"We don't want to be the mask police. We think it's hard to manage and it's unnecessary so we're asking the county to align with the state."

Two more superintendents came out in support of the letter on Wednesday – the superintendents of the Arcadia Unified School District and Glendora Unified School District – according to Fox 11 Los Angeles.

LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger also announced her support for the change on Wednesday.

"Our County's masking policies should be fully aligned with the state's requirements. Period," Barger said in a statement to FOX 11.

"School district leaders know their students, families and communities best… I'm hopeful that the Department of Public Health will reconsider its school masking directives…"

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County Public Health Director, recently told Fox 11 she had “a hard time understanding” the opposition to the policy.

Critics of the mandatory masking say it is unfair to burden the least at-risk part of the population.

"It's absolutely not just a rogue group of small, anti-masker parents. It's been an ongoing battle. The children have suffered enough. They are at the least at risk, and they have taken the most burden of the pandemic and it's time to move on," said Suverna Mistry, a parent of two kids in the Newhall School District who is also running for the school board for the district.