Tom Reed for Congress issued the following announcement on Aug. 27
Today, Rep. Tom Reed and 12 New York State legislators sent a joint letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Health calling them out for confusing and potentially disastrous back-to-school guidance. The newly released New York State rules dramatically expand the criteria children or staff must meet before they can return to school. Previously, the state guidelines required students and staff to meet only one of these criteria:
- be quarantined for a certain number of days and be symptom-free upon return;
- receive approval from a primary care provider or school medical director after receiving an alternative diagnosis with similar symptoms such as ear infections, strep throat, seasonal allergies or other related illnesses;
- receive a negative COVID-19 test.
This would place an undue burden on parents and families across the state, as well as cut children’s doctors out of the decision-making process. With this new policy, parents and school staff will often be responsible for the cost of COVID-19 tests. Likewise, these policies will unnecessarily overburden New York’s testing capacity, which in turn will take testing resources away from others.
“We care about making sure common-sense guidelines are put into place that allow for a safe, practical return to school for students and staff alike,” said Rep. Tom Reed. “These new state rules have introduced a tremendous amount of confusion and concern from parents, students, and staff worried about the burden of unnecessary costs and excessive classroom absences. We are committed to working together to make sure parents, students, and staff can all safely return to school and succeed in the classroom.”
In their letter, Tom and New York state lawmakers are calling for common sense guidance that will provide clear, practical guidelines for a safe return to school that also does not overtax parents, staff, or the testing system.
The group noted: “Our school administrators, faculty, parents, and local departments of health have been working overtime to conquer the monumental task of opening schools under very stringent public health guidelines. After everything these groups have done, why would the New York State Department of Health keep changing their requirements to add more unachievable rules? This is unacceptable with less than two weeks until the school year begins.”
The full letter can be found copied below and linked here:
Original source can be found here.
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