Suffolk School Coalition Formed Challenging Cuomo's Mask Mandate

PORT JEFFERSON, NY — Four north shore school districts have joined together, calling for local control in a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo requesting he relax his mask mandate on children in school.

The Comsewogue, Port Jefferson, Miller Place, and Rocky Point school districts tell the governor that despite relaxed guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state’s own Department of Health as transmission rates have declined and vaccination rates have increased, school restrictions “have remained stagnant.”

“As we have seen time and time again throughout the pandemic, stopping the spread needs to be handled locally; there is no one blanket solution,” the letter reads. “That is why we ask you to enable each individual school district to again work with our local health agencies and make plans that work for the communities we serve and to not force square pegs into round holes. We recognize that these are still unprecedented times, but we cannot allow inertia to be the basis for how decisions are made regarding our students’ physical and mental health.”

The letter was penned May 28 to Cuomo and Dr. Howard Zucker, the state’s commissioner of health, and was signed by the four district’s superintendents of schools. They include Jennifer Quinn of Comsewogue School District; Marianne F. Cartisano of Miller Place; Jessica Schmettan of Port Jefferson; and Scott O’Brien of Rocky Point.

In the letter, the superintendents noted how the districts were “asked to put together safe and effective reopening strategies that met the needs and comfort levels of the individual communities they serve,” and those guidelines were followed to the letter for over nine months.

“Each measure school districts have taken has been made with close consultation from health officials and with input from our communities, and they are working,” the letter continues. “COVID-19 is not spreading in schools. Positivity rates are low. We represent four Suffolk County school districts and more than 100,000 Long Island residents. What works for New York City does not apply to Long Island the same way that what works for Buffalo does not work for Syracuse.”

The letter goes on to request that Cuomo give back control to the school districts by letting “our boards of education, which have been rightfully elected by our residents to represent them in school district matters, make the decisions that are in line with our communities’ desires and best interests.”

The superintendents questioned that if summer day camps can operate without mandating face coverings, “then why are schools not given the same ability to extend mask breaks while students are socially distant or outdoors?”

Another factor to consider is that many public schools will be operating summer camps in just a few short weeks, according to the superintendents.

“Our communities are looking at schools to adapt according to health guidelines, but we are handcuffed by unchanging regulations that only apply to schools,” the letter continues.

The letter goes on to say that parents have begun keeping their children home “due to mounting health and safety concerns,” which is in “direct contradiction to our mutual goal of keeping students in-school, full-time.” The superintendents said “student discipline and defiance is expected to increase for special and general education students, which may result in necessary disciplinary action.”

“With the ability to make decisions locally, schools can work with local health officials and
our communities to make responsible, informed, science-based decisions that will keep students safe and maintain a healthy learning environment,” the superintendents add.

“Though we are all from neighboring districts and we are one in our message, we represent four very different communities with four very different perspectives. As public schools, it is our obligation to serve our communities,” the letter continues, “However, the way these restrictions are being enforced, our communities and our students are the ones who bear the brunt of the burden. With the support and guidance from our local health officials who are analyzing the communities where our families reside, please give public school districts back the power to operate according to the needs of the communities we serve.”

The letter was just another example of the growing discontent with the mask mandate for children in schools. Last week in Massapequa Park, parents rallied against the mandate for masks for toddlers, calling it cruel, News 12 reported.

Parents also rallied in Hauppague on Wednesday calling on Cuomo to ‘Unmask our kids.”