Education
Hochul issues universal
mask-mandate
for New York schools
New Governor Kathy Hochul
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
At her second public appearance as
New York state governor, Kathy
Hochul issued a universal maskmandate
for anyone entering school buildings
and ordered all school personnel to get
vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19
testing to knock down increasing cases of
the coronavirus’ delta variant.
Hochul was sworn in as New York’s 57th
– and fi rst woman – governor at midnight
on Tuesday two weeks after her predecessor
former Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned
in disgrace in the wake of a bombshell report
fi nding that he sexually harassed 11 women.
During her second address to New Yorkers,
Hochul promised swift action against
problems facing the state, mainly, squashing
the spread of the more aggressive delta
variant and increasing vaccination rates
among state residents.
“Priority number one: we get children back
to school and protect the environment so they
can learn and everyone is safe,” said Hochul,
adding that for months she has been consulting
with parents, teachers, superintendents,
and school board members about the upcoming
return to classrooms. “ We need to require
vaccinations for all school personnel with the
option to test out weekly. At least for now.”
New York State United Teachers, an umbrella
organization for roughly 900 unions
across the state, seems to be on board with
the governor’s school-related proposals.
“Gov. Kathy Hochul brings a breath
of fresh air to Albany, and she already is
taking decisive action to bolster health and
safety in our schools. We support universal
mask-wearing as part of a layered mitigation
REUTERS
strategy that also includes robust COVID
testing, contract tracing, proper ventilation
and other strategies recommended by
public health experts,” said NYSUT President
Andy Pallotta. “We also support the
governor’s move to require regular COVID
testing for school staff who are not yet vaccinated.
It’s critical that educators continue
to have a voice in the implementation of
vaccine requirements and other COVID
policies at the local level.”
In addition, Hochul revealed that her
administration plans on launching a COVID
19 testing program to make testing
for “students and staff widely available and
convenient” as another means of mitigating
the spread of the delta variant.
Details on a statewide testing policy for
school districts will be announced later
this week, Hochul promised.“We need
partnerships with all levels of government
and I’m working now on getting this done,”
Hochul added.
The order comes a day after the United
States Food and Drug Administration
granted the Pfi zer-BioNTech COVID-19
vaccine full approval for use on people 16
years of age and older which some offi cials
hope will boost confi dence in the vaccine
making it easier for institutions and employers
to issue vaccine mandates.
The full approval replaces the Pfi zer-
BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine FDA’s previous
emergency use authorization.
On Monday, New York City Mayor Bill
de Blasio announced that all Department
of Education employees including teachers
and principals must get at least one dose of
the vaccine by Sept 27, in order to lower
the chances of delta spreading in schools
in the fall.
HIGHER ED TODAY
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For the first time in 17 months, CUNY’s
campuses will be fully open for the start of
the fall semester.
After nearly a year and a half of almost
exclusively remote instruction, I am
pleased to be able to welcome back our
students, faculty and staff to CUNY for a
new academic year that will offer a more
familiar look, both in the classroom and on
campus.
It has been a challenging period, to say
the least, but like the city and state we call
home, our university community is adept
at dealing with adversity. This is reflected
in our theme for the new academic year:
Can’t Stop CUNY.
Approximately 45 percent of the nearly
50,000 course sections across CUNY’s 25 colleges
and campuses this fall will be taught
in a hybrid or in-person format, while some
55 percent will be delivered online.
So much of the CUNY experience revolves
around the sense of belonging and
togetherness we draw from our lives on
campus, and it’s clear from my visits to several
colleges on Aug. 25, the first day of fall
classes, that people are happy to be back
and reconnecting with their classmates
and colleagues after a long time away. For
many of our 260,000 undergraduate and
graduate students, this fall will mark the
first opportunity to participate in campus
life.
At the same time, what is also clear is
that they still have real concerns about the
recent uptick in COVID-19 transmissions
due to the emergence of the Delta variant.
These developments have reignited some of
their anxieties and fears.
I share our students’ excitement and
fully understand their trepidation. It’s
for this reason that I continue to preach
the importance of getting vaccinated and
masking up, since we all know these are
the best tools we have for controlling the
spread of COVID-19. And now, it is more
than a suggestion; it’s mandatory. The full
approval by the FDA for the Pfizer vaccine,
issued on Aug. 23, triggered a 45-day final
deadline for our students to be fully vaccinated,
or they risk being unable to complete
their courses.
For more than a year, the University
has been preparing to welcome students
back to a more in-person fall with a myriad
of safety initiatives. These protective
efforts included requiring that anyone entering
a CUNY facility for any reason will
need to be fully vaccinated, or show proof
of a negative COVID-19 test taken within
the previous seven days. We now have 18
testing sites up and running on campuses
in all five boroughs, as well as two CUNY
Central locations.
We have conducted a rigorous inspection
of ventilation systems and other essential
safety features in the classrooms,
offices, laboratories, libraries and other
spaces that will be in use. The University
has also reviewed and approved comprehensive
reopening plans for each CUNY
campus and Central Office location,
crafted in accordance with city, state and
federal guidance.
I hope these precautions have a reassuring
effect on our students, many of
whom reside in the communities that were
impacted the most by the health and economic
crisis. Their stories of resilience, as
well as their eagerness and concerns surrounding
the fall semester, resonate with
me greatly.
Billing Chen, who won the highly competitive
Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship as a
senior at Queensborough Community College
and used it to transfer to Hunter, is excited
by the opportunity to attend classes
for the first time on the Upper East Side
campus.
“I can’t wait to go back to school in person,
to participate with my classmates and
the professors,” said Chen, who plans to
go to dental school after graduation next
spring.
“Online, if you don’t understand something
it’s kind of hard to type your questions,”
she said. “I also like to have study
groups, two or three of us who can do
homework or study together, and I love to
visit professors in office hours.”
Olawale Oladapo, an engineering student
at Hostos Community College, voiced
sentiments common among many CUNY
students when he described being excited
to be back on campus but also unsure of
what to expect.
“The first day of school is never comfortable
and now adding COVID to it,”
said Oladapo, “I think it will be a new normal.”
The importance of establishing personal
connections cannot be overstated.
I wish all of our students the best of luck
as they forge ahead in their studies, their
lives and in CUNY’s return to our campuses.
It may indeed be a “new normal,”
as Olawale describes it, but our university
community is well prepared to continue
overcoming challenges together, for each
other and for our city.
As I said: Can’t stop CUNY.
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Schneps Media August 26, 2021 11