By Matt Miller

School leaders applauded Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recommendation Monday to lift mask mandates for students in what amounts to a small start in shifting back to pre-pandemic normalcy.

The mandate will be lifted at midnight March 12. Masks will continue to be “strongly recommended” as students head to school March 14 but not required, likely meaning many students will continue to choose to wear their masks and others will not.

“I appreciate the state’s announcement of moving from mask requirements to masks being strongly recommended for our schools,” Solano Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson said by email. “The new guidelines seem to reflect recent Covid data and feedback from California families. California has had among the lowest pediatric hospitalization rates compared to other states, and the data is certainly trending in the right direction in Solano County.”

Source: Solano school leaders applaud state’s first step in lifting mask mandates