Campus Faces Relaxed COVID Rules
The mask requirement for SJUSD has been lifted with the decrease in cases.
By Jocelyn Cosgrove
The mask requirement for SJUSD has been lifted with the decrease in cases.
By Jocelyn Cosgrove
As a part of coming back to in-person learning for the school year, students and staff have been required to wear masks while on campus except for when actively eating or drinking.
This changed on Feb. 28, when San Jose Unified School District sent an email notifying parents, teachers, administrators and other staff that the mask requirement would be lifted on March 14. Following the announcement made by Governor Gavin Newsom about his “SMARTER,” coronavirus response plan on February 17, 2022, the state-wide mask mandate for California was dropped, leaving it up to the individual counties to lift the mandate when they were ready. Since Feb. 28, COVID-19 cases have been dropping in Santa Clara County, with an average of 188 new cases daily as of March 15. At the height of the omicron spread in January, there were days with more than 5,000 new cases reported.
Through the pandemic, the Center of Disease Control, or the CDC, has been giving regular updates regarding anything about the COVID-19 virus and what is to be done to stay safe. Principal Herb Espiritu feels that if the CDC is recommending to have masks optional in schools, he supports the recommendation.
“I have complete trust in CDC health experts and also how our students and staff and our community respond to those things. I have full trust in our community and all the health experts that decide these things,” Espiritu said.
For classes such as band, having masks on has been more of a challenge. Band and orchestra teacher Lara Levy feels mixed emotions when it comes to the mandate being lifted, but sees how stressful it has been for students playing instruments.
“I’m going to encourage continued masking in our class, but obviously it’s being lifted so it’s a lot easier to play instruments without them. Like for breathing, just for getting your mouthpiece into your mouth in time to play. It’s been a really big struggle this year so I know a lot of people are looking forward to not having to do it anymore,” said Levy.
The advanced drama class has also been affected by the mask requirement, making it harder for students to breath while rehearsing. Maya Lewis, 10, feels that with masks being off, it will be less difficult to perform during rehearsals.
“We will be able to catch our breath more easily and the microphones won’t pick up our heavy breathing as much,” Lewis said.
Like many students on campus, US history teacher Jake Hernandez is excited and ready for the masks to come off and feels that students shouldn’t judge each other’s decisions regarding the masks.
“I just think that giving the students the option to not wear the mask is a good thing and at the same time if the students still want to wear the mask, go for it. It’s their right as well and I don’t think anyone should be judged for not wearing it and for wearing it,” Hernandez said.
This changed on Feb. 28, when San Jose Unified School District sent an email notifying parents, teachers, administrators and other staff that the mask requirement would be lifted on March 14. Following the announcement made by Governor Gavin Newsom about his “SMARTER,” coronavirus response plan on February 17, 2022, the state-wide mask mandate for California was dropped, leaving it up to the individual counties to lift the mandate when they were ready. Since Feb. 28, COVID-19 cases have been dropping in Santa Clara County, with an average of 188 new cases daily as of March 15. At the height of the omicron spread in January, there were days with more than 5,000 new cases reported.
Through the pandemic, the Center of Disease Control, or the CDC, has been giving regular updates regarding anything about the COVID-19 virus and what is to be done to stay safe. Principal Herb Espiritu feels that if the CDC is recommending to have masks optional in schools, he supports the recommendation.
“I have complete trust in CDC health experts and also how our students and staff and our community respond to those things. I have full trust in our community and all the health experts that decide these things,” Espiritu said.
For classes such as band, having masks on has been more of a challenge. Band and orchestra teacher Lara Levy feels mixed emotions when it comes to the mandate being lifted, but sees how stressful it has been for students playing instruments.
“I’m going to encourage continued masking in our class, but obviously it’s being lifted so it’s a lot easier to play instruments without them. Like for breathing, just for getting your mouthpiece into your mouth in time to play. It’s been a really big struggle this year so I know a lot of people are looking forward to not having to do it anymore,” said Levy.
The advanced drama class has also been affected by the mask requirement, making it harder for students to breath while rehearsing. Maya Lewis, 10, feels that with masks being off, it will be less difficult to perform during rehearsals.
“We will be able to catch our breath more easily and the microphones won’t pick up our heavy breathing as much,” Lewis said.
Like many students on campus, US history teacher Jake Hernandez is excited and ready for the masks to come off and feels that students shouldn’t judge each other’s decisions regarding the masks.
“I just think that giving the students the option to not wear the mask is a good thing and at the same time if the students still want to wear the mask, go for it. It’s their right as well and I don’t think anyone should be judged for not wearing it and for wearing it,” Hernandez said.