Placer student says no to mandate; district says it has no choice but to keep her out of class

Cecilia Herrera walked onto the Placer High School campus Monday just wanting to attend her first-period weight-training class. "I'll go to class and hopefully not get kicked out, but I'm probably gonna end up in the office," the sophomore said, peering over diamond-shaped sunglasses as a group of roughly 10 adults (and two children) took part in another "No-Mandate Monday" protest at the corner of Agard and Orange, smack-dab in the middle of where parents enter and exit the campus to drop off their kids at school. Cecilia gets what her mom described as "average to good grades," isn't a troublemaker and plays on the softball team as a catcher. She's also one of a handful of students who refuses to wear a mask in the classroom, and her mother and father, Tavia Ladd and Chris Herrera, agree with and support her stance. They were in the group that held signs that read, "Courageous teachers would support a student's right to choose!" "Placer is here STOP the Mandate," "UNMASK OUR CHILDREN" and "Yes, Oxygen! – Cecilia." In a reply email to several questions asked by the Auburn Journal, the Placer Union High School District said it is "obligated to follow the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Guidance for K-12 schools" and the State Public Health Order issued June 11, 2021, which requires enforcement of the universal indoor masking requirement. Students who don't have a mask are offered one. Students who decline to mask "are sent to the school office and their parent(s)/guardian(s) are contacted." The Auburn Union School District also has mask requirements and follows CDPH guidelines, Assistant to the Superintendent Julie Ismari wrote in an email to the Journal. She said a few parents have argued against the mandate, but attendance has been "steady." "In the Placer Union High School District, we have a long history of valuing and respecting parental choice," PUHSD Superintendent Dr. George Sziraki said in a statement issued to the Journal. "It has been difficult for all of us to navigate the State politics against our local conditions. School districts simply have not been given any authority to veer from the CDPH requirements of masking and enforcement. We do not want any student to be excluded from school. However, we have the moral and legal obligation to follow Public Health requirements to keep our students and staff safe as defined by our Public Health experts. We have always valued our parents' and communities' voices. This past year has been intense and emotional. Providing education during the pandemic has produced an endless series of new challenges along with student, staff, family and community COVID fatigue." "No thank you" Cecilia began saying, "No thank you" to masking on Nov. 8 and has maintained her stance. Her mom picked her up from school Monday – Cecilia didn't make it through weight training – and Tuesday, when her mom declined to pick her up at school, Cecilia was suspended for three days. It's her second suspension. The Placer Union High School District said in its response to the Journal it wants to "prevent exclusion from campus," adding exclusion is not considered a "disciplinary action" and students are allowed to return to classes when they wear a mask indoors. The district's response to the Journal stated a student's education can continue "through an alternative approach," but according to Ladd, the family said, "No thank you to independent studies." They believe wearing – or not wearing – a mask is a matter of choice. "I believe it should be a choice," Ladd said. "I don't believe anyone should be mandated to do it. We've had no deaths with kids. Masks are still experimental, and we have the right to consent on those. We just want choices. If I'm sick, I'd wear one, but that's a select thing to do." Others at Monday's protest agreed as an occasional driver honked on the way by. There were a few shouts of support from students and a few negative statements as well. One driver accentuated her message to the protesters with a middle finger out the car window. Chenoa Taylor said she has two sons at Placer, a sophomore and freshman who sit in the back of their classes, wear their mask on their chin and "hardly ever get any grief. Once in a while, a teacher will say, 'Pull your mask up.' " Taylor said her sons don't mask on Mondays and are sent out of class. Yvette Horn said she was "out here fighting for my kids' civil rights and for every other kid out here, and their civil rights. We stand for choice. We want these kids to have choice." Horn said she doesn't want her son, Placer junior Nicolas Horn, wearing a mask. She said anything labeled Emergency Use Authorization, such as masks, testing and vaccines, require choice and the offering of informed consent and, "People have the right to accept or deny the medical treatment. And our school district is violating the law." A follow-up statement released Tuesday by PUHSD Communications Specialist Sarah Rath, included the heading "The Mask Mandate is NOT a Violation of Constitutional Rights to Attend School," noting, "Courts have routinely permitted the exclusion of students who refuse to comply with public health and safety measures designed to prevent the spread of communicable diseases." Horn said she's hired an attorney and sent a cease-and-desist letter. She said her son enters class not wearing a mask and is forced to wear it at least on his chin. "So tell me, what good does that do?" Horn asked, adding she has sent "probably 50 studies to our school district that prove masks don't work. … No one is looking at all the other negative aspects of masking. They cause hypoxia, fear in kids, depression, acne. Students can't learn." The debate came to a head at the Board of Trustees meeting Jan. 18 at the Lynn MacDonald Education Center in Auburn. Emotions overheated. Two recesses were called in an effort to restore order, but yelling and profane language led to the ejection of individuals that were "not parents of students in our district," Placer Union said in its response to the Journal. "There were many students, both high school age and younger, present at the meeting subjected to those outbursts." Ladd attended the meeting and described the building as packed, saying, "There are many community members who are upset about this. The board tried to shut down public comments and not let people continue. That didn't go over well. It did get a little heated." Support for Cecilia Ladd said Cecilia has received a "huge amount of support" from other parents and students, but while they don't want to mask, "They don't want to get into trouble, either." Chris Herrera, Cecilia's dad, attended the recent "No-Mandate Monday" to support all the kids and said, "When it started, I told (Cecilia) it should be a choice; it should be each person's choice." While Herrera said, "A mandate is not a law," Tuesday's release from Rath at Placer Union stated mandates and laws "are effectively the same thing," the difference being "Mandates are created and enacted by an Executive Branch, such as a State Governor, rather than through a lengthier legislative process that ends with the Governor's signature and a new, durable law. Mandates are also usually temporary and deal with an urgent issue." "It's all a farce," Herrera said. "It's absolutely about control and not choice." Ladd said Cecilia and other students have been sent to the gym and outside (under a cover), including Dec. 13, when a storm dropped more than 4 inches of rain in Auburn over three days. Ladd said Cecilia initially wore a mask "just for compliance" but, "Now that they're herding her around like cattle, it's becoming stressful. You need to be in classroom. They need to be with their peers, social and learning, and these kids have suffered for two years." Meanwhile, Cecilia stands firm and refuses to mask. "I'm healthy, and there's no reason for me to," Cecilia said at the protest, wearing one of more than 150 yellow T-shirts her mom had printed that read "See my smile" on the front. "It's a tough fight, you know? Do what you think is right. Don't let nobody tell you different, as long as you think it's right."