Students can remove masks at desks in Commack School District; must be on in halls, buses

President of the Commack School Board Steven Hartman says it was decided that students can take their masks off when seated at their desks, which will be 3 feet apart.

News 12 Staff

Aug 20, 2021, 11:49 AM

Updated 1,122 days ago

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Students in the Commack School District will be able to take their masks off when seat at their desk, according to the school board president.
A school boarding meeting was held Thursday on the issue of mask requirements with the majority of parents saying they were against the district requiring masks. 
President of the Commack School Board Steven Hartman says it was decided that students can take their masks off when seated at their desks, which will be 3 feet apart. 
In all other instances, like walking in the hall or on the bus, masks will be required to be worn. 
Hartman says if the state implements a mask mandate, the school will follow it, but says they will continue to advocate for local control as they have done all along. 
A mandate appears possible as Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to be sworn in next week and has expressed a need for masks.
"I believe that we will need mask mandates for children to go back to schools," says Hochul. "And that will have to be universal, it will have to be statewide." 
The Massapequa School District announced Wednesday that masks will be recommended but not required in the classroom.
Other Long Island districts have already said they plan to require masks, including Plainview-Old Bethpage, Garden City, Riverhead and Mattituck. 
Manisha Ghandi, a mother of two kids in Commack schools, says she thinks masks should be worn.
Ghandi says she thinks the district removed the mandate too soon in the spring.
That decision only lasted one day before Gov. Andrew Cuomo reinstated the mandate.