UPDATE: On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state would modify the CDC's mask guidelines and allow schools to have the option to ditch requiring mask wearing for children while outdoors.
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Just days after New York state’s health commissioner indicated that mask-wearing would be optional in K-12 schools starting Monday, the state Education Department said Sunday that mask rules will stay in place for now, according to multiple reports.
In a letter Friday to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said New York planned to no longer require masks in schools starting Monday unless the CDC provided data or science that “contradicts” the change.
The release of the letter caught school leaders and teachers unions by surprise. Zucker said schools and camps could choose to implement stricter rules, and the New York City Department of Education said it would keep its universal mask policy in schools in place.
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However, the Times Union reported Sunday that the state Education Department emailed a letter to all district board of education presidents this weekend, saying it believed the intent of Zucker’s letter was “to obtain a response from the CDC regarding differing standards” for mask-wearing at summer camps and schools.
Since the state hasn’t received the updated guidance from the CDC, the mask mandate remains for now, education officials said in the letter.
“Therefore, schools should continue to operate under their existing procedures until further notice. No changes have been, or will be, made by the Executive until after Monday, June 7 to afford the CDC an opportunity to respond to the letter,” the Education Department wrote.
White Plains School Superintendent Joseph Ricca spoke with WCBS 880's Sean Adams to unravel the confusion.
"It was reported, unfortunately, that this was an immediate change in guidance that folks should expect it to go into force and effect on Monday, when I knew that that was not the case," he said. "We had not been communicated with by the New York State Department of Health and I recognized that this was Dr. Zucker's communication to CDC asking for guidance for the New York State Department of Health in terms of reconciling the differences between in-school requirements and summer school and camp requirements."
Ricca says once the state changes its guidance, then school districts can consult teachers and parents and determine their own policy.
"Guidance must be changed at the state level prior to any changes at the school level and before any changes to reopening plans could go into effect school districts must convene their stakeholder committees to review potential changes," Ricca said.
The CDC told the Associated Press on Friday that it recommends schools and childcare facilities continue to follow COVID-19 prevention strategies, such as consistent indoors mask use, for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year.
“Current evidence demonstrates that consistent mask use indoors among people two and older who are not fully vaccinated, along with other preventive strategies, is key to reducing the spread of COVID-19,” Public Affairs Specialist Jade Fulce said in an email to the AP.
“The recommendation to continue with these prevention strategies is based on youth aged 12-15 not being able to be fully vaccinated before the end of the current school year and youth under 12 not yet being eligible for vaccinations,” Fulce added.
The Cuomo administration started requiring face masks to be worn “at all times” in school in early April. That was a shift from the state’s previous stance of letting local governments decide whether to require masks in schools.
Rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths are plummeting in New York, while vaccination rates are ticking up. Still, Zucker’s letter to the CDC didn’t cite any data about why the state was seeking to reverse the mask mandate in schools.
Zucker said the state wanted to “align our school and camp mask guidance.”
According to Zucker, the state Department of Health would “strongly” encourage but not require mask use for students, campers, and staff who are not fully vaccinated.
Masks wouldn't be required outdoors, though individuals who aren’t fully vaccinated would be encouraged to wear a mask “in certain higher-risk circumstances.”
“Both indoors and outdoors, students, campers, and staff who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks,” Zucker wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.