Livermore Makes School Masks Optional After March 11

LIVERMORE, CA — On Thursday afternoon, the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District announced that it would align with recently adopted state and county guidelines to make indoor masks optional after the end of the March 11 school day, regardless of vaccination status. The new rules apply to both students and staff.

The district initially hesitated following Gov. Newsom’s announcement earlier this week to end school masking requirements, saying that it would wait for guidance from the Alameda County Department of Public Health. On Thursday, Alameda County announced that “after careful consideration and in the setting of strong improvement in local conditions,” it would “align with the State’s guidance for K-12 and childcare settings and move masking requirements in these settings to strong recommendations after March 11.”

The district said that masks continue to be “strongly recommended,” and will be available to all who ask for them. The district also encouraged parents to remind students to “respect the choices of others, even when they differ from their own” and said that criticism based on mask-wearing choices “will not be tolerated.”

The Dublin Unified School District also waited for guidance from Alameda County before ultimately removing its masking requirement.