Shen superintendent says district ready for possible mask mandate

We’ve heard many stories of school board meetings turning nasty, becoming loud and confrontational over masks in schools.

That includes Shenendehowa, a huge district with around 10,000 students filling eight elementary schools, three middle schools and one large high school.

Superintendent Dr. Oliver Robinson tells NewsChannel 13 the plan for masks really depends on the rate of COVID cases. They rank transmission concerns from red to blue. Red is the highest concern and blue is the lowest.

He says schools falling in red or orange will need masks.

"If we remain in a high transmission rate, yeah, we’ll be having a mask mandate," said Robinson.

If that happens, mask breaks will be built in throughout the day.

"So that’s the plan, and I say that now because there’s a lot of things that could change within the next week and certainly before the start of school," said Robinson.

The big change next week is the change in leadership, with Kathy Hochul taking over as the new governor. She said Wednesday she believes we will need mask mandates.

Hear Dr. Robinson’s thoughts on the state guidance so far by watching the video of Subrina Dhammi’s story.