Superintendent responds to expiration of school mask mandate 

Atascadero Joint Unified School District Superintendent Tom Butler.

Masks will no longer be required in schools starting March 11

– This week, the Atascadero Joint Unified School District Superintendent Tom Butler released a statement in response to the mask mandates for school expiring on March 11. His response is as follows:

Dear AUSD Community,

Today, the Governor of the State of California announced that the state’s requirement for masking in schools will expire on Friday, March 11, 2022, allowing students regardless of vaccination status, to be without a face mask at school beginning on Monday, March 14, 2022. This will allow all families and students to make an individual choice in regard to wearing a mask inside the classroom. Atascadero Unified School District will be fully implementing this guidance on March 14, 2022.

In the meantime, if there are any further official announcements that allow for an earlier legal adoption of mask choice in the classroom, then AUSD is fully ready to implement those immediately.

As we follow this new guidance it is important that we support and respect all students in their individual choice in regard to wearing a mask. It is imperative that all students are valued and respected with the choice that their family supports. Thanks in advance to all of our school communities for supporting positive environments on all of the school campuses.

At this time all AUSD employees and parent volunteers are still required to wear a mask inside the school setting. We will work closely with both of our Employee Associations (ADTA and CSEA) to make the adjustment as soon as Cal/OSHA releases the current guidance for employees
in the workplace.

We are pleased that our county and school district community are healthy and that we can return to operating our schools in a traditional manner with an ongoing dedication to prepare all of our students for college, career, and positive citizenship.

Thanks for your understanding and ongoing support of AUSD.

Sincerely,
Tom Butler
Superintendent

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News staff of the A-Town Daily News wrote and edited this article from local contributors and press releases. Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog. He can be reached at [email protected].