The Oakland Unified School District is still enforcing an outdoor mask mandate.
One major outlier is Oakland Unified School District, which, in addition to enforcing an indoor mask mandate, is also enforcing an outdoor mask mandate. The district says on its website the indoor mandate will remain until at least April 15, and a decision will be made on the duration of the outdoor mandate within two weeks.
"They're essentially bucking federal, state and county guidance, saying, 'We know better than all of you,'" said Megan Bacigalupi, a parent of two children at the district and founder of parent activist group CA Parent Power."It's saying there are conditions that persist in Oakland that require a child with speech impediments to be masked, but in Berkeley, that same child can be unmasked.
District spokesperson John Sasaki said he could not answer questions about the science behind an outdoor mask mandate or why OUSD is diverging from neighboring districts. He said the district is primarily keeping its mask mandate over concerns of a potential post-spring break surge. Spring break is scheduled for April 4 through 8.