HAMBURG, N.Y. — Reaction came in from some local Western New York school superintendents after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that mask mandate would remain in place in schools around the state.
We're told that this is not a big surprise since school leaders on a conference call with the governor on Tuesday expected the mandate to stay based on her discussion with them.
The governor says she wants to see where things stand on March 1 with case counts and with testing after the weeklong winter break that some districts have scheduled.
Hochul replied to one reporter's question and noted that it's a distinct possibility that on March 7 the mask mandate could be lifted if cases continue to go down.
We have reaction from two prominent superintendents.
Hamburg Schools Superintendent Michael Cornell, who also leads the Erie-Niagara School Superintendents Association, says: "It's certainly not the news that Western New York school superintendents were looking for. We've obviously been on the record in our advocacy for seeing the mask mandate expire February 21, as scheduled. Clearly the governor is of a different mind, and she's going to extend it."
He added: "It is not in doubt that the safest place for a person to be in the COVID era is your neighborhood school. That's just a fact. And there's been nothing that would indicate otherwise."
Niagara Falls Superintendent Mark Laurrie also points out: "I think where it becomes incongruous for me is that kids will be masked in schools, but they'll be free to not wear masks anywhere else. The transmission could happen there and be brought back into school, so I was always hopeful that this would happen in one fell swoop."
Laurrie added: "I would ask for continued patience. We will continue to push all the good health protocols and practices, including vaccinations at a parents' choice, and hope that on March 1 we'll have a much more definitive answer."
Also, to try to force the issue with the state health department and the governor, they are being sued with the intent to lift the mask mandate immediately.
Attorney James Ostrowski filed one lawsuit with some local parents.
And there's another lawsuit representing 500 parents statewide from the HoganWillig law firm. Attorney Steve Cohen says they may also consider going to federal court on constitutional issues since these cases seem to move slowly and get bogged down in the state court system.