Editorial: Keep school rules clear, with masks

Americans have been looking to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for sound medical advice on COVID-19, but the messages do not always give them what they need. Local expert counsel based on community conditions is generally the most relevant.

That seemed especially true late last week when the CDC indicated in new guidance that vaccinated people in schools, students and staff, no longer need the protection of face coverings.

It’s an example of an advisory that, while based on science, is unhelpful — even confusing to those with a stake in the safe reopening of schools to in-person instruction.

So it is gratifying to see that the state’s education and health officials have made the only sensible decision in this case: maintaining their earlier stance in favor of mask-wearing in all classroom settings, and for all ages.

Acting state Epidemiologist Sarah Kemble has clarified that the masks likely will be used by everyone on school campuses while indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Kemble added the observation, tough to dispute, that it would be “a real challenge for schools to say you are going to wear a mask and you aren’t.”

The CDC’s update on schools centered on an assertion that getting students back to the campus is a priority, and on that, most can agree.

In the past 18 months of pandemic-directed remote learning, many students have suffered a severe loss, both academically and socially. Classroom environments need to be made as safe as possible, but returning to more conventional learning is the most promising course.

So some of the protocols are being relaxed, including a reduction in the recommended physical distancing to 3 feet instead of 6. Most of the standard advisories on screening, hygiene, ventilation and staying together in their study and work cohorts are still included in the prescribed “layered” approach to safety.

The CDC also retains the advisory that students under 12, who do not yet qualify for vaccination, and all other children and adults who are unvaccinated, continue to wear masks.

But how would this work, if vaccinated staffers and students can go unmasked? There are students in middle school who are not yet of minimum age, and of those who’ve had their 12th birthday, not all would have been vaccinated. Some parents oppose the vaccine for their children.

Even if it were possible to identify the unvaccinated on campus, directing them to wear masks may cause other problems. Nationally, though not so much in Hawaii, stakeholders have raised concerns about students being bullied if they are in a mask-wearing minority.

Osa Tui Jr., who recently started his term as president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, agreed. Speaking also on Friday on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” webcast, Tui added that he would not support a vaccine mandate for teachers. And younger students are not expected to be eligible for vaccination for some time.

This suggests that public-school campuses are sure to have mixed populations on the vaccine front. With the spread of highly contagious virus variants, the consistent, protective element of face coverings is essential.

There’s reason to hope the state will attain an adequate level of immunity that ultimately will make the issue moot. But until that happens, it makes practical sense that masks be used in a uniform way.

In another “Spotlight” interview, Gov. David Ige on Monday also rightly endorsed the notion of on-campus masking: “We want to have that tool in the toolkit of the schools,” he said.

Students and teachers, already facing an uphill battle in recovering lost educational ground, need to put their focus there, and not on another divisive issue.