New York Loosens COVID-19 Rules For Schools

NEW YORK — With the first day of school about two weeks away, New York officials announced looser COVID-19 rules for K-12 education, and local officials are factoring it into their back-to-school plans.

In a joint letter to education officials on Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Health Commissioner Mary Bassett and Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said, "As we enter a new phase of the pandemic, with increased access to COVID-19 information, vaccination, testing, and treatment, we are changing our guidance to give school districts and schools more flexibility heading into the 2022-2023 school year."

Ossining schools Superintendent Ray Sanchez said the short timing wasn't a problem.

"I do not foresee many changes related to our plans for the upcoming year. We based our tentative plans on the information the CDC shared earlier," Sanchez told Patch Monday. "However, we will continue to follow the guidance. Our intent is to understand the guidance and share the information with families and staff."

The state is ending "test to stay," meaning students and teachers can stay in school if they've had a COVID exposure so long as they wear masks. The new schools guidance calls for students and teachers to wear masks if they're exposed to the virus, and to take a COVID-19 test if they feel sick.

"The days of sending an entire classroom home because one child is symptomatic are over," Hochul said during a Monday news briefing. "If a student or teacher is exposed, has a close contact who's exposed, and they don't have symptoms, they no longer have to go home, they will stay in school."

The CDC does recommend the wearing of a mask after exposure for about 10 days, she said.

If a child or staffer tests positive for COVID-19, they should stay home for five days and can return with a mask once their symptoms subside, Hochul said.

Neither the CDC nor the New York Department of Health are calling for random screening.

Schools can still require COVID-19 testing for "close contact" activities such as sports under the new guidance, she said. "We'll leave that up to individual schools to make that determination."

Also, the state will provide test kits for students from a stockpile of 20 million.

With schools about to open, Hochul looked back to September 2021.

"And what a difference a year makes," she said. "I was brand new on the job, but I also knew we had kids going back to school within a matter of days. And so we had to ramp up our efforts immediately. And we had a lot of rules last year. You know, we had social distancing, we had quarantine after exposure, we had test to stay. So, a lot of rules that parents and teachers and administrators had to be familiar with. And, it was confusing, very frustrating, stressful, the unknown, fear of the unknown because, this was the first fall when our expectation was that everybody went back to school.

"And so because parents — I'm a parent, now a grandparent, we know our primary responsibility is to protect the health of our children. I want parents to know as governor, I share that responsibility. It is my responsibility to do everything I can to protect your families as well. So, I'm grateful that this year we have a different scenario — different landscape, so to speak. And we're expecting it to be a much, much easier year for parents and for schools."

Still, Hochul said she will be watching coronavirus numbers during the fall, when traditionally cases and hospitalizations have begun to climb.

She urged parents get their children vaccinated and reminded everyone the "Vax to School" program is once again underway, with pop-up vaccination centers and a focus on breaking down barriers to vaccine access.

Find the new guidance for schools on the state's COVID-19 website.