Days after being sworn in as New York’s Governor on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul issued new directives for schools in New York. These include:

• Directed Department of Health to institute Universal Mask Requirement in all schools (public and private)

• Began pursuing options to mandate vaccines for school employees

• Launched COVID-19 Testing in Schools Program using $585 Million in federal funds in partnership with counties and BOCES

• Established Additional Back-to-School Testing Program in Partnership with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rite Aid and BioReference

• Acquired Millions of Masks for Students and Educators

Masking Mandate

While masking is generally accepted by Beaconites, some parents have indicated objection in social media and on reopening planning calls with Beacon City School Districts (BCSD) Superintendent, Dr. Landahl. He delivered his first reopening presentation on August 13, 2021, and is slated to present again via video call this evening with updated or clarified guidance based on New York State’s new guidance (read the slides here).

In response to this mask mandate, Dr. Landahl provided clarification on Mask Breaks, stating: “Universal Masking is now required by the state for staff and students in schools. Mask breaks will either be outside, or when students are separated from other individuals by 6 feet and under the guidance of a staff member for a brief amount of time.” Masking outdoors is not required by New York State at this time, and BCSD is following that guidance.

According to Governor Hochul’s press release, New York State has available more than 4.3 million child-sized clothed face masks, about 10 million adult-sized clothed face masks and almost 55 million non-surgical face masks to provide to students and teachers in schools across the state.

Possible Vaccine Requirement For School Staff

Said Governor Hochul in a press release: “As Governor, my priorities are now the priorities of the people of New York - and right now that means fighting the Delta variant," she said. "My number one priority is getting children back to school and protecting the environment so they can learn safely. I am immediately directing the Department of Health to institute universal masking for anyone entering our schools, and we are launching a Back to School COVID-19 testing program to make testing for students and staff widely available and convenient. We are also working to require vaccinations for all school personnel with an option to test out weekly, and we are going to accomplish all of this by working in partnership with all levels of government."

In response to the proposed vaccine requirement, Dr. Landahl is preparing to follow through with requiring vaccinated staff to test weekly. He stated: “Governor Hochul is preparing to announce a vaccine or testing requirement for all school staff. I am hearing that this will be announced in the next few days. If it becomes law, all unvaccinated staff will be required to undergo weekly testing.” Dr. Landahl stated in his 8/13/2021 presentation that is is strongly supportive of this vaccination.

COVID-19 Testing Accessibility

According to Governor Hochul’s press release, to help ensure testing is available to students as they return to school, Governor Hochul is using $335 million in federal funds to launch a new COVID-19 Testing in Schools Program in partnership with local health departments and BOCES in New York State outside of New York City. In addition, New York City has received $251 million directly to initiate a COVID-19 Testing in Schools Program there, for a total of $585 million in federal funding in New York State to support these programs.

This is a huge development, as getting required testing for kids is time consuming, and challenging with different health insurances. Testing, at this time, is not free like the vaccine. Unless via a federal or state funded school opportunity such as this.

Governor Hochul also launched an additional back-to-school COVID-19 testing program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rite Aid and BioReference to make testing more widely available for New York State public school students before the start of the 2021-2022 school year.