Despite rising COVID-19 rates, some Arizona districts plan to make face masks optional

Several Arizona school districts will move to make indoor face masks optional when students return after winter break, despite rising COVID-19 numbers.

Kyrene School District, Scottsdale Unified School District and Washington Elementary School District have had mask mandates for some of this school year, but they announced they will be changing their policies in January.

“Nearly all Kyrene students will have the chance to be fully vaccinated in the coming weeks, and that presents an opportunity to review Kyrene’s mitigation strategies,” district Superintendent Laura Toenjes said in a message to families on Nov. 15. 

Public health officials have warned that increased travel during the holiday season could increase the spread of COVID-19. Arizona is already seeing wide virus spread: The state’s seven-day death rate per 100,000 people ranked fourth among U.S. states and territories as of this weekend.

Research from earlier this year on the effect of masks in public schools found schools in Maricopa and Pima counties without a mask mandate were 3.5 times more likely to have COVID-19 outbreaks than those that started the academic year requiring face coverings.

“I think this is an issue of misplaced confidence,” said Dr. Ruth Franks Snedecor, who works at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. “Vaccination doesn’t prevent the spread of COVID, it just means when you are infected you are less likely to require hospitalization or see long-term effects.”

Instead, says Snedecor, districts should continue layered mitigation efforts that include face masks, testing and ventilation.

While it is difficult to gauge formal numbers, 12 Arizona school districts that responded to a recent query from The Arizona Republic said they have had to quarantine more than 100 classrooms so far this school year, and more than 9,000 staff and students at those districts have tested positive for COVID-19.

Kyrene School District had 669 positive COVID-19 cases among students and 99 staff cases through Nov. 15. The district has not had to close any school buildings. Scottsdale Unified School District had 1,073 students and staff who reported testing positive for COVID-19. The district has not had to shut down any schools or classrooms this year.

Some schools adapt quarantine policies

Some school districts are also shifting their quarantine policies to introduce new options for students exposed to COVID-19. 

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health is piloting an approach in some Madison School District schools Billed as an "alternative quarantine" option for students who are not fully vaccinated. “Masked test-to-stay” allows students to remain in school during their quarantine period.

Paradise Valley Unified School District announced a “test to stay” quarantine option in a Nov. 18 letter to parents. The district said it would revise its quarantine policy to allow students in middle and high school to remain at school after exposure if they were not wearing a mask but had a negative test and promised to wear a mask for an eight-day period. If a middle or high school student is wearing a mask and comes in contact with a positive student, they do not need to quarantine.

The new practice started Monday in middle and high schools and will begin in elementary schools following the winter break.

Jill Lassen, a Scottsdale Unified parent advocate, said she is unhappy with the shift to optional masks but feels the district has bigger issues to engage with, so she doesn't plan to launch a campaign on the issue. 

That’s part of a larger shift in parent activism around COVID-19 safety in metro Phoenix schools, which has moved from pressure on masks to more school-specific concerns about ventilation and testing protocols. 

“My spouse had a heart transplant in the last year,” Lassen said. “I’m not happy that (masks are) optional, but it’s not something I’m really going to put the effort into fighting the district on. We have so many other greater issues happening in Scottsdale.”

Instead, Lassen said, she’ll continue to send her son to school wearing a mask.

The Scottsdale district is in the middle of an effort to recall its board president and has been one of the Arizona districts at the center of tensions over "critical race theory," which some parents are using as a catch-all phrase for teaching about racism or equity topics. 

School COVID-19 policies could still change

Even as districts have announced their plans, the fast-changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic means they have not ruled out a change to the latest policies, and they have all strongly recommended face masks.

The Kyrene, Scottsdale Unified and Washington Elementary districts all announced ends to their mask mandates before health officials designated the omicron variant of the coronavirus a "variant of concern." No cases of the variant, which emerged in South Africa, have been detected in the U.S. as of Monday.

In the Kyrene superintendent’s letter to families, she said face coverings would remain highly encouraged, and the policies could still shift. 

“Decisions regarding face coverings are subject to change, in response to any significant developments,” she said.

Reach the reporter at ykunichoff@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @yanazure.

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