Students and Staff React to lifting of New York School Mask Mandate

By R. Garzone

March 4, 2022

(Colonie, NY) On Sunday, February 27, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul made an announcement that she would be lifting the mask mandate in schools on Wednesday, March 2.

Connecticut, California, and Oregon are other states that are dropping mandates in schools following a decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

Students and staff have mixed reactions to the governor’s decision at Colonie High School.

Colonie senior, Khaleeda Dawood, and sophomore, Julianna Frankenfield, do not believe it is a good time to lift the mandate, as students have recently returned from February break.

“I was surprised because I thought it would be delayed until later, like towards the spring or summer because a lot of kids are traveling out of state, some even out of the country,” Dawood said.

Internal Suspension teacher and boys Track and Field coach, Lisa Paparone, thinks now “is as good a time as ever” to lift the mandate.

“The winter months containing the holidays is when we have seen the spikes but now we are moving towards being outside, we might as well give it a shot to drop the masks,” Paperone said.

Dawood said she plans on continuing to wear her mask because she lives with her grandparents and wants to protect their safety.

Frankenfield will not wear a mask come Wednesday, she says she has not been wearing it properly and does not think she will be affected.

Although some students will be ditching masks completely, sophomore Gabriella Villa and senior Halla Rhode state they will continue to mask up in crowded areas, like hallways.

Coming to school with masks has been the norm for almost two years, so it will be a major adjustment for some students.

Because of this, there are reservations associated with being maskless in the classroom.

“I’m concerned that people will forget to still be careful now that masks aren’t mandatory,” Rhode said.

A number of students such as Frankenfield, Dawood, and Villa expressed concern that the amount of COVID-19 cases will increase.

Paparone states some students and their family members are immunocompromised, leaving asymptomatic transmission as a prevalent concern for those people.

That is the reason senior Deepika Sridhara cites for keeping her mask on.

“I’ll continue to wear a mask for my safety and to keep my high-risk family and community safe,” Sridhada said.

Students and staff have mixed opinions on whether or not this will last, but there is optimism that COVID-19 is becoming a thing of the past.