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The following message was emailed to all staff and parents on Tuesday morning.

Dear EGCSD Community,

The East Greenbush Central School District has been made aware that a New York State judge on Long Island struck down Governor Hochul’s mask mandate yesterday. We understand from the State Education Department that the State of New York shall seek an appeal of the decision and seek a stay regarding the enforcement of the same. As a result, the State Education Department has stated that schools must continue to require the use of masks pending the final adjudication of the litigation.

Accordingly, the district shall continue to require all students, staff and visitors to wear masks for the health and safety of our community and in accordance with the recommendation of the New York State Departments of Health and Education and the CDC.

We will continue to work with legal counsel to ascertain the implications of this litigation and any appeals for our district.

Statement from NYS Education Department in response to ruling:

“The State Education Department understands that Nassau County Supreme Court has ruled that the Department of Health exceeded its authority in enacting the mask regulation, 10 NYCRR 2.60, in Demetriou et al. v. New York State Dep’t of Health et al.  This regulation is the subject of conflicting decisions, insofar as Albany County Supreme Court recently upheld the regulation in Massapequa UFSD et al. v. Hochul, et al.

It is SED’s understanding that the Department of Health will appeal the Nassau County Supreme Court decision, which will result in an automatic stay that will unambiguously restore the mask rule until such time as an appellate court issues a further ruling.  Therefore, schools must continue to follow the mask rule.