Parents, Other New Yorkers Disagree About Masks In School: Poll

NEW YORK, NY — Most New Yorkers approve of state officials' plan to review the school mask mandate after students return from winter break, but among parents, more think masks should have come off already, according to a new Siena College poll.

A "strong majority" — 58 percent — of New Yorkers want to wait for early March coronavirus data before deciding whether to lift the school mask mandate, researchers said Tuesday. Just 10 percent want to have it end after the winter break — no matter what the metrics are — while 30 percent say the mandate should have ended already.

However, the polling margins were slimmer among parents with school-aged children. Just 46 percent approve of waiting to see COVID-19 case data after kids return from break before making a decision, while 13 percent want it to end then no matter what and 40 percent think it should have ended already.

That suggests that state and school officials face a 'lose/lose' proposition, said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.

"No matter what decision is made, half of their constituents will be unhappy," he told Patch.

The poll was conducted Feb. 14-17 among 803 New York State registered voters.

It found a majority across every demographic group agreed with waiting and then reviewing the metrics a week after students return from winter break — except Republicans and conservatives, who wish the mandate had ended already, Greenberg said.

When explaining the plan to review the school mask mandate, Gov. Kathy Hochul said that many families could be traveling over the winter break, which ends Monday. Health officials will review the pediatric coronavirus case data, including positive tests, hospitalizations and vaccination rates, and make a decision March 4 whether to lift or prolong the mandate.

Hochul reminded residents Feb. 9 that when the school mask mandate was instituted last August, the alternative for the 2021-22 school year was remote instruction, but she wanted to get kids back in school — safely.

However, people's feelings about masks have evolved since then, Greenburg said. "People don't think about anything to do with the pandemic the way they did six months ago," he told Patch. "That's why a poll is a snapshot in time."

Legal proceedings are continuing over the mandate, allowed to remain in effect after an appeals court judge issued a stay following a Nassau County Supreme Court judge's ruling that school mask protocols were unconstitutional. Hochul said she felt confident the state would be victorious. "We will demonstrate in a court of law that New York State has the power to protect the residents of New York."

SEE ALSO: NY Keeps School Mask Mandate, Lifts Business Vaxx-Or-Mask Rule