This letter was emailed home to all BCSD families on February 27, 2002.
Dear Berlin parents/guardians,
At a press conference today afternoon, the Governor announced the end of the mask mandate in schools, effective Wednesday, March 2. She cited declining metrics for making this decision, including a decrease in COVID cases and hospitalizations, as well as new guidance from the CDC on Friday, February 25th.
As a result, masks are still required in school on Monday and Tuesday, as we await to review and implement new school guidance.
Starting Wednesday, masks will be a personal choice in our schools (based on the latest information).
We respect everyone’s right to choose for themselves in the mask-optional scenario. We ask parents and guardians to speak with their child about personal choice and respect for each other’s personal decisions. We will not tolerate any bullying of students or staff who choose to continue to wear a mask, after the mandate expires.
We understand that this announcement may have a mixed reaction from parents, students and staff.
Throughout the pandemic, we have relied on guidelines set forth by the CDC, NY State Department of Health and NY State Education Department in partnership with the Rensselaer county health department, and will continue to do so in the future.
Conditions are improving locally and across the state. Test positivity is now at the lowest rate since last fall and there is an increased number of students and staff that have been vaccinated.
Our schools also distributed at-home test kits to families – a mitigation tool that was scarcely available in the past. We encourage families to use these test kits to test their child. However, testing is not required to return to school.
We will share additional information on the new guidance as soon as it is available.
Thank you for your continued patience, cooperation and understanding.
Sincerely,
A. Joseph Dhara
Superintendent of Schools