Over the last school year, AVUHSD has followed California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) guidance and mandates to allow for full in-person instruction in the safest way possible. At no point in time have we created stricter guidance than our county and state, nor have we gone outside of the guidelines and requirements to implement our own less-strict district policies.

This week Governor Newsom announced that with declining case rates and hospitalizations across the west, California, Oregon and Washington are moving together to update their masking guidance. After 11:59 p.m. on March 11, California, Oregon and Washington will adopt new indoor mask policies and move from mask requirements to mask recommendations in schools. LADPH announced shortly after that they will align their guidance with the State. Both agencies will be updating their guidance to reflect that after 11:59 p.m. on March 11, 2022, students and staff members in K-12 settings will be strongly recommended, not required to mask while indoors. Please note that this change to statewide and county guidelines does not take effect until after 11:59 p.m. on March 11, 2022, effectively, Saturday, March 12. Masking is still required by all while indoors on school grounds until that date. State policies do not change federal requirements, which still include masks on public transit like school busing.

According to CDPH, in California, masks will still be required for everyone in high transmission settings including public transit, emergency shelters, health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care facilities.

We appreciate and acknowledge that the state lifting the mask requirement may cause anxiety for some people, especially those who are at higher risk for COVID or live with someone who is at higher risk. Please note that mask-wearing is still strongly recommended by the state and county. Mask wearing continues to be an option for every student or staff member who wishes to wear one at any time.

This new chapter is focused on continuing the mitigation strategies we are all familiar with - monitoring symptoms, testing, etc. - with a great deal of focus on personal responsibility and respect. We value every member of our AVUHSD community and it’s essential to us that everyone feels safe. While we have a diverse population with differing views and different health conditions, we ask our parents, students, and staff to please be respectful of each other’s different views. Now that we have an end date, we also ask all to continue following the state requirements for masking for a few more days.