California to ban students who refuse to wear masks

California schools will open schools for in-person instruction this fall — but only to students who will wear a mask.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the state released guidelines Monday for a return to campus, which require California’s K-12 students to wear masks inside school buildings.

Students who refuse, with the exception of those covered under some narrow health- and disability-related exemptions, can be kicked off campus, and another form of education provided to them.

“Schools must exclude students from campus if they are not exempt from wearing a face covering under California Dept. of Public Health guidelines and refuse to wear one provided by the school,” the guidelines say.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said the new rules offer “a safe course for ensuring that every student can come back to school in the fall.”

He also said, according to the Times, that a mask rule would be particularly valuable if a school’s design or capacity makes physical distancing tougher.

“That makes it more tenable that everyone can come back and everyone can be safe,” he said.

Children younger than 12 cannot yet be vaccinated against COVID-19 but they are also the population group least at risk from either falling ill with the novel coronavirus or carrying the virus to others.