(Sunday, February 27, 2022) Today, Governor Hochul revised the mask mandate in schools.  Beginning Wednesday, March 2nd, face masks are no longer mandatory in schools. The use of masks will be optional for all stakeholders in our learning community.   

Tomorrow, Monday, February 28th and Tuesday, March 1st, face masks continue to be required to be worn in school and on school transportation.   

To mitigate the potential increase in COVID-19 spread and comply with the State’s recommendation as schools open tomorrow after Winter Recess, we are asking our parents and guardians to administer the COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test Home Tests you received prior to the Winter Recess to your children tonight, Sunday, February 27th, before returning to school tomorrow and again on Wednesday, March 2. 

In addition, we are encouraging everyone to wear a mask throughout this week.  We do not want an increase in this number of positive cases which may force us to wear masks again or possibly need to quarantine classes.   

The District will continue our mitigation efforts to ensure healthy school environments, including

• Voluntary weekly COVID-19 screening for students and staff,
• Distribution of COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test Home Tests
• Cleaning protocols

 Our quarantining and isolation protocols will be reviewed to align with changes that may be provided by the State and County Departments of Health.   

• If anyone has COVID-19 symptoms, they must observe all mitigation measures and contact their health provider or school nurse.   

In addition, we recommend masks continue to be worn by prekindergarten and other students who are not eligible for the vaccine as well as students and staff members who are at health risk due to underlying medical conditions. 

Please note that the use of face mask is optional for our students and staff as of March 2nd.  Whatever decision you determine is best to protect your child’s health and our employees’ health will be respected by everyone in our school community.  The District will not tolerate bullying or harassment in any form as we implement the optional mask wearing protocol.  Remember, speech civility must always be modeled for our children. 

Let us continue to work together to keep everyone safe and healthy.  Thank you for the support you have provided over the past two years as we navigated these very challenging times.