LI School District Follows State Mask Mandate, Not County Exec.

SEAFORD, NY — Amid the confusion over the mask mandate in schools, the Seaford School District sent a letter to families about the governmental tug-of-war.

In Seaford, the decision was made by school officials to keep masks on for everyone.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman recently gave each school district the option to require mask wearings in the buildings, an opposite directive from Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Department of Health.

As stated in the Jan. 9 letter to Seaford parents (and posted online), the educators said they are obligated to follow the state's mandate, as Education Commissioner Betty Rosa reminded them.

"Failure to comply with this directive could mean disciplinary consequences for Board members and administrator," signed by Seaford Board of Education and Central Administration in the letter.

Superintendent Adele Pecora, although on the letterhead, did not specifically put her name on the document.

"We are disappointed that current conditions do not permit us to return to a pre-pandemic school environment," they wrote families about the situation. "As always, we will continue to monitor the COVID positivity rates."

The school board also alerted parents about tests distributed last week. They received a message from the governor's office regarding the Jan. 31, 2022 expiration on the tests.

"[They] do not have an approved 90-day FDA extension to that expiration. This message is extremely frustrating because it directly conflicts with what we were told by the State last week."

The school district said they will have additional tests with extended expiration dates in the coming days.

"We understand the frustrations surrounding these matters," they wrote.