MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — While the new Nassau County Executive has signed an order allowing schools to drop masking policies, some of the most outspoken districts are resisting change in fear of retaliation.
In Massapequa, some parents have been rallying for months to pressure school officials to allow students to go maskless indoors.
Those parents were hopeful on Thursday when Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed an order that would allow school boards to decide whether students should or should not wear masks.
However, when the Massapequa school board met shortly after Blakeman’s declaration, a different decision than what was expected was announced.
“We saw that the governor and the Attorney General of the state will issue some kind of a lawsuit, [which] we would hate to happen,” one board member said. “It’s what happened to us in June, where we took the masks off and then we were forced, the next day, to make these kids go back to school with a mask on.”
Similarly, the Long Beach Board of Education on Friday announced that it will also continue to abide by state law, which requires all students, staff and faculty to remain masked while indoors.
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“The Long Beach Board of Education is not bound by the County Executive’s recent pronouncement/authorization concerning the mask mandates,” the board said in a statement. “According to State Law, such authorization rests with the empowered State authorities including the Governor, State Education and/or the Department of Public Health. We will continue to uphold the mask mandate that is presently in effect within the district.”
Meanwhile, Jericho School District Superintendent Hank Grishman told WCBS 880 that he thinks masks are beneficial in keeping kids healthy, and he sees no reason to drop the mandate now.
“Last winter, mask wearing was such a tremendous asset in terms of kids not getting colds, not getting the flu and obviously protecting them from COVID,” he said.
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On Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul implied that schools that do drop the mask mandate could see repercussions, including losing state funding from the Department of Education.
Dr. Robert Dillion, the superintendent of Nassau County’s Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), also said board members who vote to remove masks from schools could also be removed from their positions.
“As a public entity, school boards must follow the law,” he said. “Individually, they could be removed from the board of education.”
Nassau County plans to continue distributing KN95 masks, on request, to all school district employees who request one.
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