Parents and students were outside the Orcutt Union School District office Tuesday morning, protesting masking policy in schools.
Although the statewide indoor mask mandate has been dropped for vaccinated individuals, along with the Santa Barbara County mask requirement, masks are still required at schools.
Parents at the protest feel that is should be up to the parent or student whether they should or should not wear a mask, not the schools.
"I don’t want to tell another parent you have to take off the mask if they're not comfortable with it, but we need a choice for our kids to take them off," said Kristen Pruett, a parent protesting the mask requirement.
School district officials responded to the protest.
"As a district, we are aware there are varying opinions about the face covering requirement. Our district, along with all public and private schools in California, is required to follow the California Department of Public Health’s K-12 Schools Guidance and employees are also required to follow the CalOSHA guidance. Our understanding is that the K-12 Schools Guidance could be updated as early as next week, and we will continue to adjust to updated guidance as we have done throughout this pandemic," said Dr. Holly Edds, the Orcutt Union High School District Superintendent.