The school mask mandate will come to an end Wednesday in districts across New York State, and Buffalo is no longer an exception.
Buffalo's decision to drop the mask requirement was announced late Tuesday after the State Health Department issued guidance following Gov. Kathy Hochul's announcement Sunday that the mandate would end Wednesday.
It reverses a declaration by Buffalo school officials Monday night that masks must continue to be worn. New York City schools are requiring masks this week, but other large city school districts, including Albany, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, had decided that masks will be optional.
Buffalo's announcement cited State Health Department recommendations that students, staff and teachers are free to continue wearing masks if they feel more comfortable doing so, if they are immunocompromised or if they have been exposed to someone with Covid-19 in school or elsewhere.
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The Buffalo district had notified parents Tuesday morning that masks would be required in school buildings and on public transportation taking students to and from school.
The district said its Medical Advisory Team and Erie County Health Department partners met on the mandate question before making that decision. But the county Health Department said on Twitter it had not recommended that Buffalo continue to require masks. It also said that, in line with the state announcement and recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Erie County schools are not required to mandate masks in their facilities after today, 3/1."
ECDOH has not provided a recommendation to @Buffalo_Schools to continue to require masks in its facilities. Per the @HealthNYGov announcement from Sunday and recent @CDCgov guidance, Erie County schools are not required to mandate masks in their facilities after today, 3/1. /1
— Erie County Department of Health 😷 (@ECDOH) March 1, 2022
The county Health Department said in a statement Monday that the shift came because the CDC guidance categorizes all counties with a community Covid-19 level. Erie County is at “medium” based on the new measures, and masks in school are not recommended at that level.
Buffalo had said it would make a "science and data-driven decision" on when masks may be removed, using metrics for local Covid-19 rates of transmission over seven days; current pediatric hospitalization rates; and the level of orange, yellow and green, which correspond to the CDC levels of high, medium and low.
Guidance released by the state Health Department late Tuesday said that local health departments “may implement masking requirements that are more restrictive than the state, and LHDs and school districts and private schools should consult and collaborate on masking and testing decisions.”
Buffalo School Board Member-at-large Larry Scott said in a Facebook post Tuesday night that he received the following clarification from the executive director of the Conference of Big 5 School Districts: “Per our conversation today, we have clarified that school districts/schools may NOT require masks unless the Local Health Department makes this determination/ authorization.”
