Mask mandate ends March 2 for schools statewide,
including Herkimer BOCES region schools
Masks will not be required at schools statewide including in the Herkimer-Fulton-
Hamilton-Otsego BOCES region effective Wednesday, March 2.
Governor Kathy Hochul made the announcement today, Sunday, Feb. 27, on the
statewide end of the school mask mandate, in line with new guidance from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and state trends in COVID-19 positivity and
hospitalization rates.
The new CDC guidance released on Friday, Feb. 25, recommended that masks not be
required in schools in communities designated as low to medium risk for COVID-19.
Hochul announced the end of the mask mandate for all New York schools and that
counties with higher risk can decide to impose their own school mask requirements.
Herkimer BOCES and schools in the region are in communities that fall under low to
medium risk, and the school mask mandate in the Herkimer BOCES region will be
ending effective Wednesday, March 2.
Hochul announced that additional guidance for schools will be finalized between now
and Wednesday, March 2. School officials in the Herkimer BOCES region will be
communicating with state officials and local health officials on questions about additional
guidance such as whether masks will still be required in certain school locations such as
nurses’ offices.
Although masks are no longer required at schools, school officials respect the choice for
anyone to wear a mask in all settings in recognition of the potential risk particularly for
those with young children in their homes or immunocompromised individuals.
The school districts in the Herkimer BOCES region are Central Valley, Dolgeville,
Frankfort Schuyler, Herkimer, Little Falls, Mount Markham, Owen D. Young, Poland,
Richfield Springs and West Canada Valley.