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School responses in New York to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

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Responses by state


As students returned to school for the 2021-2022 school year, states set a variety of policies on education and the COVID-19 pandemic, including how schools should open to in-person instruction and whether students and staff would be required to wear masks. By the end of the 2020-2021 school year, about 66% of students nationwide were in states that left closure decisions to schools or districts, 33% were in states with state-ordered in-person instruction, and 1% were in states with state-ordered regional school closures.[1][2] All 50 states closed schools to in-person instruction at some point during the 2019-2020 school year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This article summarizes responses to the coronavirus in New York schools in the academic years ending in 2020, 2021, and 2022. You will find:

Ballotpedia’s coverage of COVID-19 includes how federal, state, and local governments are responding, and how those responses are influencing election rules and operations, political campaigns, the economy, schools, and more.

This page is updated monthly, but our email is always open. We encourage you to share updates from local officials, policymakers, and campaigns in your community at editor@ballotpedia.org.


Timeline by school year

Below is a list of major events involving schools in New York during the coronavirus pandemic between 2019 and 2022, including school closings and openings, mask requirements, and the release of statewide operating guidance. Know of something we missed? Click here to email us and let us know.

2021-2022 school year

  • March 3, 2022: New York's school mask requirement ended. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced the change on Feb. 27.[3]
  • Feb. 27, 2022: Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced the state's school mask requirement would end on March 3.[3]
  • Sept. 9, 2021: At the beginning of the school year, Burbio, a school data aggregator, reported one in-person schooling disruption in New York.[4][5]
  • Sept. 2, 2021: The New York Department of Health released a regulation requiring teachers and school staff to be vaccinated or receive regular coronavirus testing.[6]
  • Aug. 27, 2021: The New York State Department of Health filed an emergency regulation requiring masks be worn in schools. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced she was directing the agency to implement this policy on Aug. 24.[7]
  • Aug. 24, 2021: Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced she was directing the Department of Health to institute a universal mask requirement in public and private schools. In a press release, Hochul also said she would “pursue options to mandate vaccines for school employees or require weekly testing in the absence of vaccines.”[8]
  • Aug. 12, 2021: The New York State Education Department released school reopening guidance for the 2021-2022 academic year. The guidance included recommendations for mask usage, vaccine promotion, and physical distancing within classrooms.[9]
  • Aug. 5, 2021: New York State Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said school districts would have authority over school coronavirus guidance and requirements.[10]


2020-2021 school year

  • June 29, 2021: At the end of the school year, Burbio reported most schools were in-person in New York .[11][12]
  • January 4, 2021: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced schools could remain open in communities with 9% or greater positivity rates if positivity among students and school staff was lower than positivity in the surrounding community. Previously, the state had required schools to close in communities where the positivity rate was 9% or greater.[13]
  • October 30, 2020: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced schools in the state's red and orange mitigation zones could reopen after all of a school’s students and teachers got tested. Cuomo did not give a timeline for the reopening but said the state would provide the tests.[14]
  • Sept. 10, 2020: At the beginning of the school year, Burbio reported about half of schools were in-person in New York .[15][16]
  • August 7, 2020: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced schools would reopen to in-person instruction at the start of the school year. Students would be required to wear masks. Parents would retain the option to keep their children home.[17]
  • July 13, 2020: The State Department of Education released a framework for school reopening plans. Each school district would be required to submit a district-specific reopening plan based on the template between July 17 and July 31. Formal guidance for reopening was expected later that week.[18]


2019-2020 school year

  • May 1, 2020: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that schools would remain closed for in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year. Prior to the announcement, schools were closed through May 15.[19]
  • April 16, 2020: Cuomo extended the state's stay-at-home order through May 15, extending the statewide school closure.[20]
  • April 6, 2020: Cuomo announced that the statewide school closure, scheduled to end April 15, was extended through April 29.[21]
  • March 27, 2020: Cuomo announced that the statewide school closure, scheduled to end April 1, was extended through April 15.[22]
  • March 16, 2020: Cuomo announced that schools across the state would close for at least two weeks beginning March 18.[23]

Mask and vaccine requirements in the 2021-2022 school year

Mask requirements in schools

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

As of August 1, 2022, no states had school mask requirements in effect. Forty-two states left mask requirements in schools up to local authorities. Seven states banned school mask requirements.

The table below shows statewide school mask requirement laws and orders in states with school mask requirements or school mask requirement bans in place at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

Mask requirement orders
State Ban or requirement? Type of order Date lifted or altered
Arizona Ban Legislative action N/A
Arkansas Ban Legislative action Sept. 30, 2021 - Suspended by court action
California Requirement California Department of Public Health order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Connecticut Requirement Executive order Feb. 28, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Delaware Requirement Executive order March 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Florida Ban Executive order N/A[24]
Georgia Ban Legislative action N/A
Hawaii Requirement Executive order Aug. 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Illinois Requirement Illinois Department of Public Health order Feb. 4, 2022 - Suspended by court action[25]
Iowa Ban Legislative action May 16, 2022 - Reinstated by court action[26]
Kentucky Requirement Kentucky Board of Education order Sept. 9, 2021 - Suspended by state law
Louisiana Requirement Executive order Feb. 16, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[27]
Maryland Requirement Maryland State Board of Education order March 1, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[28]
Massachusetts Requirement Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education order Feb. 28, 2022 - Lifted by executive action[29]
Nevada Requirement Executive order Feb. 10, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New Jersey Requirement Executive order March 7, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New Mexico Requirement New Mexico Public Education Department order Feb. 17, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
New York Requirement Executive order March 3, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Oklahoma Ban Executive order N/A
Oregon Requirement Oregon Health Authority and Department of Education order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
Pennsylvania Requirement Pennsylvania Department of Health order Dec. 10, 2021 - Suspended by court action
Rhode Island Requirement Executive order March 4, 2022 - Lifted by executive action
South Carolina Ban Legislative action Sept. 28, 2021 - Temporarily suspended by court action
Tennessee Ban Executive order Dec. 10, 2021 - Suspended by court action
Texas Ban Executive order N/A[30]
Utah Ban Legislative action N/A
Virginia Ban Legislative action N/A
Washington Requirement Washington State Department of Public Health order March 12, 2022 - Lifted by executive action

School mask requirements over time

School mask bans over time


Teacher and school employee vaccine requirements

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

Seven states had issued a statewide requirement for K-12 teachers and staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or receive regular coronavirus testing during the 2021-2022 school year. The table below shows teacher and staff vaccine requirement laws and orders in states that issued such policies during the 2021-2022 school year.

Vaccine requirement orders
State Testing instead of vaccination allowed? Type of order Date effective
California Yes California Department of Public Health order Oct. 15, 2021
Connecticut No Executive order Sept. 27, 2021
Delaware Yes Executive order Nov. 1, 2021
Illinois Yes Executive order Issued: Sept. 19, 2021
Suspended by court action on Feb. 4, 2022
New Jersey Yes Executive order Oct. 18, 2021
New York Yes Executive order Sept. 19, 2021
Oregon No Executive order Oct. 18, 2021
Washington No Executive order Oct. 18, 2021


Student vaccine requirements

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-2022 academic year

On Oct. 1, 2021, California was the first state to announce a vaccine requirement for eligible students. Louisiana also announced a vaccine requirement for eligible students on Dec. 14, but then announced the state would be removing the coronavirus vaccine from the list of required immunizations in schools on May 18, 2022.

School reopenings and closures (2020-2021 academic year)

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2020-2021 academic year

Initial school year operating plan

See also: Documenting America's Path to Recovery: August 11, 2020

New York released an initial operating plan for the 2020-2021 school year on July 13, 2020. An analysis of this plan appeared in our Documenting America's Path to Recovery newsletter on August 11. The sections below include an analysis of the plan, the details of the plan, and reactions from officials to the plan.

The New York State Education Department released its school reopening guidance on July 13. Interim Commissioner Shannon Tahoe said, “The guidance encourages community involvement and allows for flexibility so that districts and schools in every corner of the state can assess their unique situation and develop a plan that best meets the needs of their students.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said, “It's purely on the numbers, purely on the science."

At that time it was unclear if all schools would be allowed to reopen. Gov. Cuomo held a press conference on Aug. 7, where he announced all school districts in the state were authorized to open, as long as the rate of positive tests in the district remained below 5 percent. The decisions about in-person learning were left to each district.

New York does not have a statewide date for public schools to reopen. Each district is required to hold three online discussions with parents regarding their plans by August 21. According to EdWeek, public schools in New York traditionally start the academic year in late August to early September.

On March 16, Gov. Cuomo closed schools for two weeks beginning March 18. On March 27, Cuomo extended the closure through April 15. He extended it again on April 6 to go through April 29, and on April 16 to go through May 15. The governor closed schools for the rest of the academic year on May 1.

Context

New York is a Democratic trifecta. The governor is a Democrat, and Democrats have majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state became a Democratic trifecta in 2019.

The following tables show public education statistics in New York, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

New York school metrics
Category Figure Rank
Per pupil spending (16-17) $25,222 1
Number of students (18-19) 2,673,930 4
Number of teachers (Fall 2016) 186,339 3
Number of public schools (18-19) 4,811 3
Student:teacher ratio (18-19) 12.7 44
Percent qualifying for free/reduced lunch (16-17) 52.6% 17


New York school revenue
Category Figure Rank
Total revenue $62,517,215,000 2
Federal revenue percent 4.5% 48
State revenue percent 41.5% 36
Local revenue percent 54% 10

Details

District reopening plans

Each school district had until July 31 to submit plans to the New York State Department of Health for three different learning models–all in-person, all remote, and a hybrid of the two. Each plan had to detail how districts would meet state requirements for each model. The plans are required to be made publicly available online.

In-person, hybrid, and online learning

The decision to reopen schools for in-person learning has been left up to individual districts, and each district has been required to post online plans regarding testing, contact tracing, and remote learning. Cuomo is also requiring districts to host information sessions with parents and the community to discuss their plans.

Mask requirements

Schools are required to provide face coverings to employees, and to have them available to students if they forget their own. Everyone in a school and on school grounds is required to wear cloth face coverings in the following situations:

“
  • Whenever they are within 6 feet of someone;
  • In hallways;
  • In restrooms; and
  • In other congregate settings, including buses.[31]
 ”

In-person health recommendations and requirements

For reopening to in-person instruction, the state provides detailed recommendations on health checks, hygiene practices, social distancing, PPE and face coverings, managing ill persons, and cleaning and disinfecting.

Additionally, schools are required to meet a large number of conditions to reopen, including:

“
  • Districts/schools must review and consider the number of students and staff allowed to return in person.
  • Districts/schools must engage with school stakeholders and community members when developing health and safety reopening plans.
  • District/school plan has a written protocol for daily temperature screenings of all students and staff
  • District/school plan requires that ill students and staff be assessed by the school nurse or medical director
  • District/school plan has written protocol requiring students or staff with a temperature, signs of illness, and/or a positive response to the questionnaire to be sent directly to a dedicated isolation area
  • District/school plan has written protocol to ensure all persons in school buildings keep social distance of at least 6 feet whenever possible.
  • District/school plan has written protocol requiring all employees, adult visitors, and students to wear a cloth face covering whenever social distancing cannot be maintained.
  • District/school plan has written protocol for actions to be taken if there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the school.
  • District/school plan has written protocol that complies with CDC guidance for the return to school of students and staff following illness or diagnosis of confirmed case of COVID-19 or following quarantine due to contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19[31]
 ”

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions

Requirements and considerations for transportation and busing include:

“
  • Students who are able will be required to wear masks and social distance on the bus;
  • All buses which are used every day by districts and contract carriers must be cleaned/disinfected once a day.
  • School buses shall not be equipped with hand sanitizer due to its combustible composition and potential liability to the carrier or district.
  • School bus drivers, monitors, attendants and mechanics shall perform a self-health assessment for symptoms of COVID-19 before arriving to work.
  • School bus drivers, monitors, attendants and mechanics must wear a face covering along with an optional face shield;
  • Transportation staff will be trained and provided periodic refreshers on the proper use of personal protective equipment and the signs and symptoms of COVID-19;
  • Transportation departments/carriers will need to provide Personal Protective Equipment such as masks and gloves for drivers, monitors and attendants in buses as well as hand sanitizer for all staff in their transportation locations
  • Drivers, monitors and attendants who must have direct physical contact with a child must wear gloves.[31]
 ”

Map of school closures

The map below shows the status of school reopenings and closures at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year.

As of July 8, 2021, the status of school closures and reopenings was as follows:

  • Two states (Delaware, Hawaii) and Washington, D.C. had state-ordered regional school closures, required closures for certain grade levels, or allowed hybrid instruction only.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 410,896 students (0.81% of students nationwide)
  • Thirteen states had state-ordered in-person instruction.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 15,697,460 students (30.96% of students nationwide)
  • One state (Arizona) had state-ordered in-person instruction for certain grades.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 1,152,586 students (2.27% of students nationwide)
  • Thirty-four states left decisions to schools or districts.
    • 2019-20 enrollment: 33,449,499 students (65.96% of students nationwide)



School reopenings and closures (2019-2020 academic year)

See also: School responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2019-2020 academic year


The map below shows the status of school reopenings and closures at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year.

  • States closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year: 48
  • Number of public school students in states closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year: 50,261,464


The chart below shows the first date schools in a state were closed to in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 academic year, divided by the political party of the governor.

School responses by state

To read about school responses to the coronavirus pandemic in others states, click one of the following links below:

General resources

The chart below shows coronavirus statistics from countries across the world. The information is provided by Real Clear Politics.

Click the links below to explore official resources related to the coronavirus outbreak.


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Number of operating public schools and districts, student membership, teachers, and pupil/teacher ratio, by state or jurisdiction: School year 2019–20," accessed September 10, 2021
  2. ↑ EducationWeek, "Map: Where Were Schools Required to Be Open for the 2020-21 School Year?," June 14, 2021
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 NBC New York, "NY Statewide School Mask Mandate Ends Wednesday," February 27, 2022
  4. ↑ To read more about Burbio's school disruption tracking, click here
  5. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed August 27, 2021
  6. ↑ New York Office of the Governor, "Governor Hochul Announces New Requirements and Guidance for the Safe Reopening of New York Schools," September 2, 2021
  7. ↑ PIX 11, "NY schools: Students and staff will be required to wear masks, health department says," August 27, 2021
  8. ↑ New York Office of the Governor, "On First Day in Office, Governor Hochul Announces Comprehensive Plan to Help Ensure a Safe, Productive Return to Schools This Fall," August 24, 2021
  9. ↑ SILive.com, "New York State releases reopening guidance for 2021-2022 school year," August 13, 2021
  10. ↑ New York Office of the Governor, "Statement from New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker," August 5, 2021
  11. ↑ Burbio rated New York's in-person index at 80.5. To read more about Burbio's school opening tracker, click here. To read more about Burbio's methodology, click here.
  12. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed Oct. 8, 2021
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NY14
  14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NY115
  15. ↑ Burbio rated New York's in-person index between 40-60. To read more about Burbio's school opening tracker, click here. To read more about Burbio's methodology, click here.
  16. ↑ Burbio, "Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker," accessed Oct. 8, 2021
  17. ↑ ABC7, "Governor Cuomo says schools in New York state can reopen," August 7, 2020
  18. ↑ NBC Universal, "Cuomo lays out plans to reopen New York schools, track visitors from coronavirus hot spots," accessed July 13, 2020
  19. ↑ NBC New York, "Cuomo: New York Schools Closed Rest of Academic Year, Daily Deaths Hit New Low," May 1, 2020
  20. ↑ The New York Times, "Cuomo Extends Coronavirus Shutdown Order to May 15," April 16, 2020
  21. ↑ WBNG, "New York schools, non-essential businesses to remain closed until April 29," April 6, 2020
  22. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "New York Schools to Stay Closed Until at Least April 15," March 27, 2020
  23. ↑ Democrat & Chronicle, "Coronavirus: New York state orders all schools to close for at least two weeks," March 16, 2020
  24. ↑ On Sept. 2, 2021 the ban was temporarily suspended by court action. An appeals court upheld the ban on Sept. 10.
  25. ↑ Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) ended the statewide school mask requirement on Feb. 28, 2022.
  26. ↑ On Sept. 13, 2021 the ban was temporarily suspended by court action for all schools. On Jan. 25, 2022, the ban was partially reinstated.
  27. ↑ Oct. 26, 2021 - School districts could be exempt from the school mask requirement if they followed CDC quarantine guidance
  28. ↑ Dec. 7, 2021 - School districts could be exempt from the school mask requirement if they met one of the three following criteria: 1) the county vaccination rate was 80% or higher, 2) 80% of school staff and students were vaccinated, or 3) COVID-19 transmission in the county was considered moderate or low for 14 straight days.
  29. ↑ Oct. 1 - Schools could become exempt from the school mask requirement when at least 80% of students were vaccinated
  30. ↑ On Nov. 10, 2021 the ban was suspended by court action. An appeals court upheld the ban on Dec. 1.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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