Anyone looking for clues from Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul about what school might look like this September came away disappointed from her first news conference after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced he would resign in two weeks.
Hochul said she knew the last year and a half has been "so challenging" for families and businesses."
"The Delta variant is still raging. It's going to take all of us to defeat it," she said in brief prepared remarks before taking questions from reporters. "There's a lot of anxiety with the moms and dads I speak to, and the teachers as well."
Last week, state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker told school superintendents and other school leaders they should develop plans to open for in-person learning this fall "as safely as possible," and he recommended following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from local health departments.
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Some school leaders have been wondering if Hochul, when she becomes governor, will direct the state Health Department to issue guidance on everything from mask-wearing, quarantining and testing to vaccinations in schools.
Hochul had no specifics Wednesday, noting several times that there is just one governor at a time, and right now, that is Cuomo. But she did mention schools and families in her brief prepared remarks.
"It’s going to take all of us working together to keep our children safe, our teachers safe, and anyone who works in the school safe," she said.
