BUFFALO, N.Y. — Parents and kids called for New York schools to reopen during a rally Sunday at the Rath Building in downtown Buffalo.
Their calls to reopen come just two days after the state released new relaxed COVID-19 testing guidelines for schools in certain color zones.
The parents who attended the rally said they are still concerned about the lasting impact of missing in-person learning, both in their own school districts and across Western New York.
"Well, if casinos can be open, why can't schools? Like why, why can everything else be open? Why can't schools?" said William Schoenrock, a student at Fletcher Elementary School in Jamestown.
Schools in orange zones now only have to test 20% of students and staff doing in-person learning over a one-month period. Schools in red zones have to test 30 percent.
Michael Cornell, the Hamburg Central School District superintendent and president of the Erie-Niagara School Superintendent Association, advocated for these changes.
A Clarence parent at the protest, Tarja Parssinen, added: "We're hopeful, and I know in our school district, the Clarence School District is working hard to get back open. But I know other districts Ken-Ton, Maryvale, have not had their doors open since March, and they're not hopeful that they will open this year at all, which is a year of their kid's lives lost."
Cornell told 2 On Your Side Saturday that if you are in an orange zone, your school district will be in touch about testing, which could happen at your school or at a testing clinic.
