PORTLAND, Ore. — The indoor mask mandate in Oregon and Washington ended over the weekend. That means Monday was the first mask-optional day in most schools.
At Arleta School, an elementary school in Southeast Portland, some students wore their masks while others did not. It was a similar scene at Conestoga Middle School in the Beaverton School District.
Many parents, like LaQuisha Minnieweather, had important conversations with their kids before school on Monday.
Minnieweather has three kids, who all go to Cesar Chavez, a K-8 school in North Portland.
“As a family, we're not comfortable not wearing our masks. So my children were pretty nervous about the fact that there would be students and maybe some teachers who weren't wearing masks. They're still wearing theirs,” Minnieweather said.
She said she’s worried about another potential COVID spike down the road.
“We get so comfortable with low numbers that we're just like, ‘okay, everything's gonna be fine.’ But everything is fine because we're still wearing our masks,” said Minnieweather.
Other parents, like Melissa Olin, who has two kids at Arleta, said she’s comfortable with whatever students decide.
“They both went to school today wearing masks. They both came home not wearing masks,” said Olin.
Olin also said that she has trusted the decisions made by school administrators so far.
"If the scientists say that it is safe right now to scale back in masking mandates, we're gonna trust the scientists," Olin said.
Mary Sperling, a school psychologist who serves all grade levels at Salem-Keizer Public Schools, said there are benefits to consider when removing masks. For instance, teachers may now be able to better gauge their students’ level of understanding of topics just by looking at their facial expressions. She said mask removal might also be beneficial for the youngest students, some of whom have never gone into a classroom without a mask until now.
“The ability to see facial expressions will add back a layer of social connection, especially around being able to read other's emotions. I think some teachers are also looking forward to teaching without a mask so that they can both see and hear, the students can see and hear how they're forming their words,” Sperling said.
She said perhaps the most important things students and their parents should remember to do, is help create a culture of kindness, no matter their stance on masking.
“It's important to focus on positive things and things that we can control […] like good hygiene, exercise, healthy foods, getting plenty of sleep. For some people, that means wearing a mask and that's okay,” said Sperling.
She said throughout the pandemic, kids have been resilient and have adapted to many changes. But it’s still important for parents to regularly check in with their kids to see how they feel, answer questions and reassure them that adults are working to keep everyone healthy.
While Oregon's largest school districts have officially made masks optional, some are waiting. We know of at least one district, Parkrose, that won't be changing its mask policy until after spring break when students come back on March 29.