In LVCSD, decision on masking students will be left to parents
L.V. will resist Hochul’s mask mandate, for now
The Locust Valley Board of Education approved a reopening plan for the upcoming school year at its Aug. 17 meeting, and its Covid-19 guidelines included optional mask wearing and sanitizing protocols.
In the plan, proposed by Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Graham, the district’s tentative Covid regulations for the fall were laid out in detail. Most notable was the decision to allow parents to decide whether their children would wear masks to school, instead of mandating them, as surrounding districts have.
“We’re encouraging parents to have their kids wear masks to school,” school board President Brian Nolan said, “but ultimately we decided to listen to the public and leave the decision up to the parents.”
In is deliberations, the board considered community input, extensive email communications from parents and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Education Department and the Nassau County Department of Health.
Graham and board trustees have long voiced their support for leaving masking decisions up to parents. In July, they sent a letter to local, state and national representatives, urging them to eliminate any mask requirement and allow them to be optional. At last week’s meeting, Graham said, “All along, we have worked to create safe schools for our students and staff and have advocated for consistency with the application of the rules.”
Early in the pandemic, when schools had made the transition to remote learning, there were few reports of children hospitalized with Covid-19. But those numbers have risen dramatically in recent weeks, amid the rapid spread of the virus’s highly contagious Delta variant.
The Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine earlier this week applies to Americans ages 16 and older. For those ages 12 to 15, the vaccine still has emergency-use authorization. The vast majority of medical experts agree it is safe. Children younger than 12, however, still cannot get the vaccine.
In her first address as New York’s chief executive on Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she planned to make masks and staff vaccines mandatory in schools across the state. She called the proposed new requirements part of an effort to curb the spread of the Delta variant. “None of us want a rerun of last year’s horrors,” Hochul said.
Despite her announcement, Locust Valley schools plan to press on with their reopening plan. “Until something comes down from the state, Locust Valley will stick with the decision to allow parental choice in regard to masking the students . . .,” Nolan said. “When things change, the board will take consideration and make changes if needed. Right now, it’s still under local control, and the board has legal authority to set a plan for the district.”
Although the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics and doctors and epidemiologists in the state Department of Health have all stated that requiring masks in schools will slow the virus’s spread, discussions of proposed mandates have grown heated in recent weeks, as parents insist at school board meetings and on social media that they should have a say in whether their children wear masks.
“I fully support Locust Valley School District’s decision to allow parental choice when it comes to masking the children,” said Lisa McLoughlin, of Bayville.
Another parent noted that there was no increase in cases where she was a summer-school teacher. Every district is different, she said, and parents know what is best for their childen.
Tara Jewell, of Locust Valley, agreed. “Parents should always choose what’s best for their children, and I do support parental choice and the district’s decision for that,” she said.
Others said they would be relieved if the district had adopted a mandatory masking policy for students and staff, although none were willing to be named. An anonymous post on Facebook stated that science and medicine should have jurisdiction over matters of public health.
