Opinion: Local control of COVID precautions will help keep our students safe

Victoria, one of my seniors, lost her grandfather to COVID. Her uncle was then admitted to the hospital where he stayed for months battling the virus. When Victoria’s father contracted COVID, she, her mother and her sister made sure to always wear masks. They never got infected, even when the snowstorm kept them all stranded in their home together for days.

“Masks work,” Victoria says, and I agree. On Monday night, Austin ISD Superintendent Dr. Elizalde and school board members decided to mandate the use of masks in our district’s schools. I believe this decision will help keep our students and staff safe. 

Last week, Austin moved to Stage 5 of Austin Public Health’s (APH) risk-based guidelines, and APH continues to recommend the use of masks in schools. As the COVID positivity rate increases rapidly across the state, superintendents in Austin and elsewhere, concerned with the safety of their students and staff, are enforcing the use of masks. I support my superintendent and other superintendents who utilize local control to enact policies that ensure a safe school environment for all PK-12 students.

The Delta variant is 40-60% more transmissible than the original COVID strain, causing young people, including infants and children, to get infected at higher rates. Our doctors are worried and so are educators. We all know that as kids go back to school, the number of COVID cases will increase. Data clearly shows that most students benefit from in-person learning. Students who get sick and are quarantined for two weeks will not have access to any instruction because teachers will no longer teach concurrently. Worse yet, without the protection of masks, rampant community spread in our schools could force a return to 100% remote learning. A mask mandate is needed to help keep all our students in school.

Like Victoria, I know from personal experience that masks work. When I returned to school for in-person teaching before vaccines were available, I feared getting COVID. Staff and students at my school abided by the safety precautions mandated by my district.

Maintaining social distance was sometimes hard due to the number of students in my classroom, but I always wore a mask. I never contracted COVID. Our volleyball team practiced and played an entire season with masks on, all the way to a district championship. None of the players or coaches ever became ill.  The decisions my district made to protect us were right for our community, and we were safe as a result. 

Next week, we will welcome 152 6th-graders to our campus. These students, as well as those in the 7th grade who haven’t yet turned 12, are too young to be vaccinated. Many of our older students have younger siblings, many teachers have young children or family members who are immunocompromised, and some members of our staff are immunocompromised themselves. We’ve already received notice of a positive COVID case on our campus, and school doesn’t start for another week. Protective measures are needed so that all our students, staff and families can stay safe, especially those who have the highest risk of getting extremely ill should they contract the virus.

Victoria told me recently that her father has recovered and her uncle’s health is improving with physical rehabilitation, thirteen months after being admitted to the hospital. We talked about school starting. She told me about college, and I told her we’ll be wearing masks another year.

“Wearing a mask kept me from getting COVID,” she said.

Castañón-Hernandez is the middle and high school theatre director and fine arts department chair at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin. She is a Teach Plus Texas Policy Fellow.