Mask requirements absent from South Huntington's plan for upcoming school year

School officials in Huntington say they plan to follow guidance from the state Health Department and say failing to do so could result in loss of state aid.

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Aug 24, 2021, 12:13 AM

Updated 1,115 days ago

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The South Huntington school board laid out its plans for the upcoming school year -- but absent from the plan was whether or not masks would be required indoors.
The district says it is waiting on more guidance from the state when Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul becomes governor Tuesday.
"There will be an announcement tomorrow regarding masks," says Superintendent Dr. Vito D'Elia. "And everybody that I've been speaking with from the state, other superintendents, it looks like it's going to be a mandate at some point tomorrow is what we're hearing."
School officials say masks will be required on buses. The Plexiglas desk barriers and daily health screenings will be eliminated. Those decisions were applauded by parents.
STATE OF OUR SCHOOLS: Back-to-school resources
Some districts, such as Massapequa, Farmingdale and Locust Valley, have already decided that masks will be optional. In Commack, students can take their masks off when they are sitting at their desks.
Barbara Abboud has kids in the Farmingdale School District and is part of the Moms for Liberty group, which speaks out against school mask mandates.
"My children will never ever sit eight hours a day in a mask ever again," says Abboud.
Abboud praises her district for not requiring masks.
"It was the right decision," says Abboud. "They took the guidance and the feedback from parents and also the data they collected for over a year."
Farmingdale Teachers Union President Cordelia Anthony, who is also a science teacher, says the district made the wrong choice. Anthony says Hochul may make a mandate and overrule the district.
"The state would benefit from the mask mandate at this point, at least for the beginning parts of the school year, and maybe hopefully that will be the best mitigating factor to prevent transmission," says Anthony.
Hochul will deliver her first speech as governor at 3 p.m. Tuesday. That's when she may announce a statewide mask mandate.
School officials in Huntington say they plan to follow guidance from the state Health Department and say failing to do so could result in loss of state aid.