It's back to the classroom — in person — for Long Island's 124 public school districts, as educators put remote learning on hold in the hope that it will be a year filled with normal activities and free of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Almost half a million students and 36,000 teachers are filling the region's school hallways again, with the state telling administrators they should stay there as long as public health allows.

Kids can use their lockers, play sports and eat in the cafeteria. They will see a return to in-person music and arts, homecoming, plays and other extracurricular activities that make school a place to thrive, grow and learn critical social skills.

Social distancing, while still needed in some situations, will be relaxed. There will be fewer COVID-19 restrictions, but educators are tempering their optimism for the new year with the awareness that the delta variant is pushing up the infection rate and may force them to retreat.

"We are all looking at the new school year with a combination of excitement … but also caution," Uniondale Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil said.

Jericho became the first district to open for 2021-22, on Thursday, and openings will continue through Sept. 10. Districts have more local control than they did last year during the pandemic, and have been planning their full, in-person return for months.

Schools have been redesigned and procedures to keep COVID-19 in check are part of the new normal.

Many schools have removed the plastic barriers installed on desks. Some districts will conduct temperature checks and health screenings, but others have dropped those efforts. Students will have greater access to free COVID-19 testing.

Masking will be required on school buses, but kids will not have to social distance in seats like last year. And, after months of debate and controversy in districts, the state made the official call on Friday: Masking will be required inside schools. Some Island districts had been awaiting word from the state Department of Health before voting on a policy.

In one of her first actions as the state's new leader on Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she would direct the health department to implement an indoor mask mandate for schools, and said she would pursue a requirement that teachers and staff be vaccinated or tested weekly.

"Priority number one — we get children back to school and protect the environment so they can learn and everyone is safe," Hochul said.

On Friday night, a health department spokeswoman said face masks are to be mandated inside public and private school buildings under an emergency regulation. The regulation covers pre-K through 12th grade, according to the spokeswoman, Jill Montag.

The state has not answered the question of whether it can require teachers and staff to be vaccinated or tested weekly statewide. New York City is requiring public school workers to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27.

Students at Uniondale’s Turtle Hook Middle School were in the building Wednesday, August 25, 2021, for orientation sessions ahead of their first day next week.

Schools keeping an eye out for delta

Educators are eager to welcome children back, but are keeping an eye on the delta variant.

Last school year, districts had to report positive cases daily to the state health department for its COVID-19 report card. This year, districts "are not currently required to report," the department said. Districts still must report positive cases to their county health departments.

Schoolchildren — ages 12 and up — are eligible for the vaccine, which was first offered to this age group in May under emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA this month fully authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for ages 16 and up.

"I think it is easier to start the year hopeful ... Is it 2019? No. But it’s a far different start of the school year than 2020."

Julie Lutz, chief operating officer of Eastern Suffolk BOCES

"I think it is easier to start the year hopeful," said Julie Lutz, chief operating officer of Eastern Suffolk BOCES. "We know how to do this and we know to do this safely, and we know … how to make sure people are continuing to be safe. Is it 2019? No. But it’s a far different start of the school year than 2020."

The majority of Island schools started last school year teaching students both in-person and online under a hybrid model, while roughly 76,000 students began on a remote-only path. By the end of the school year, many systems had moved to a five-day-a-week schedule, but also offered a remote option as mandated by the state.

There is no such option this school year, and state Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said in guidance to districts in July that "so long as allowed by public health officials, schools should be open for in-person teaching and learning, and students should be in school."

Plainview-Old Bethpage Superintendent Mary O'Meara said the district has found "that students do much better not only academically but socially and emotionally when in school with their peers and teachers."

Last school year, about 20% of the district's roughly 4,900 students opted for a remote schedule.

Plainview-Old Bethpage has plans for medically fragile students who will need additional accommodations to return to the classroom, and homebound instruction will be provided for students who cannot attend school due to medical reasons, O'Meara said. The district also will provide homebound instruction for students who have to quarantine.

About 4,300 Long Island families opted to home-school their children last school year, according to the state Education Department.

John Caulfield, president of Levittown United Teachers and a school counselor at Jonas E. Salk Middle School, said that while educators went above and beyond to teach children both in-person and remotely last year, "We learned and realized that nothing will replace kids in front of us in our classrooms.

"We can find a way to open schools safely and keep kids in school," he added. "I am optimistic we will get back to business and in-person as long as we have the right safety protocols in place."

Levittown parent PeiLin Hsu-Brennan has two elementary-school age children who were full remote learners last year, and she would like that option again.

"I am very concerned for all the children under the age of 12 who cannot be vaccinated at this time. My husband and I have done everything we could to protect our kids from exposure. To send them back to in-person school would mean all of our efforts would be in vain," she said at a recent Levittown Board of Education meeting.

Parent Tian Qin said she is happy her son will return for the third grade in-person after being fully remote last year in the Syosset district. Qin said it was "really difficult for parents who have to work" and watch their children at the same time. She remains concerned about the delta variant and would like the district to let parents know how many staffers have been vaccinated.

Qin's daughter, who is vaccinated, is in the ninth grade and will return to in-person as well. "I’m actually pretty happy that high school students are able to take in-person lessons," she said. "It is very important for them at this age."

"We want this to work."

Uniondale Superintendent Monique Darrisaw-Akil. Her district has added experts in social and emotional learning to the staff and is providing a wellness app for students and families to access. 

Schools have taken steps to make parents and students more comfortable, said Darrisaw-Akil, the Uniondale superintendent. Her district has hosted multiple orientations, including on weekends and evenings, and offered a robust summer program for students. The district recently held an open house for students at Turtle Hook Middle School.

"I get a chance to see the students excited about coming back to school," said Celeste Cruz, chorus teacher and sixth-grade orientation facilitator at Turtle Hook. "They've gone through so much as it is … now having this opportunity to come together and gather together and learn and be with one another, I am excited, excited to have my babies, my students, my scholars to be back in-person with me."

The district has added experts in social and emotional learning to the staff and is providing a wellness app for students and families to access. "We want this to work," Darrisaw-Akil said.

Music, arts will be masked, 3 and 6 feet apart

In the Central Islip district, homecoming and concerts are scheduled, and club activities will be offered with "social distancing in accordance with all protocols," district spokesperson Barbara LaMonica said.

Freeport Superintendent Kishore Kunchum said activities in his district will be in-person and masked, 3 feet apart, except for band and chorus, which will be 6 feet apart.

"I’m a bit concerned, but I want to be optimistic," he said, noting the district used these protocols in summer school with 1,500 students, and there was only one positive COVID-19 test, on the last day.

"We really have to take it as it comes, " he said, adding that some back-to-school nights may run remotely.

In Port Jefferson, all extracurriculars will be in-person, said Eric Haruthunian, principal of Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, but club advisers are prepared to pivot to virtual activities.

Michael Caravello, director of the district’s music and fine arts program, said the start will feel much more normal than last year, with the biggest difference coming from the new 3-foot social distancing rule, down from the 6- to 12-foot spacing rule last year. That allows entire music ensembles to practice together, he said.

"And they are in their band, orchestra and chorus rooms instead of spread out over gyms and auditoriums and cafeterias," Caravello said. "We can deal with the masking and all that stuff, but to be back in a music setting is a big deal."

Weather permitting, he said, students will practice and perform outdoors 6 feet apart and unmasked.

In the elementary schools, he said, students will be able to return to art and music rooms that had served as storage rooms last year, rather than have teachers come to their classrooms with a cart.

"We’re watching and waiting and seeing what the year brings," he said. "If we have to go virtual, we’re very comfortable with that format, but we’d love to welcome audiences back into our auditoriums and performance spaces for our December holiday concerts."

Bus drivers will continue to crack windows

Bus operators said they will follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to improve ventilation by cracking windows and regularly disinfecting the vehicles.

The bigger challenge this fall may be a 15% driver shortage statewide, according to the New York School Bus Contractors Association, which surveyed its members. Despite not having enough drivers, busing contractors and district officials said they are working to absorb the shortfall through logistical maneuvers.

"We are going to have to really work together to figure out special timing and just creative ways to make sure that every kid that's supposed to get to school gets to school," said Corey Muirhead, president of the contractors association.

Muirhead and others said contractors are coordinating with districts to find flexibility in bell times and sporting routes.

"We'll be anxious for a couple of weeks ... If I had to predict, all will go well to start the school year."

John Corrado, president of Suffolk Transportation Service

John Corrado, president of Suffolk Transportation Service, which buses students in 19 Suffolk districts, is optimistic. "We'll be anxious for a couple of weeks [to] find out who's going to ride the bus, how our system is set up … and then what happens with our hiring. If I had to predict, all will go well to start the school year," he said.

Lori-Ann Savino, transportation director of Jericho schools, said the district is short seven drivers out of 63.

"We're trying to find efficiencies in the routing process," Savino said. "Maybe a route that might have had 10 stops may have 11 stops. So that might add five or 10 minutes to a bus and maybe add a few more students."

Cleopatra Ward, a Suffolk Transportation Service bus driver, said the delta variant has made her feel "a little bit scared" about the fall.

"But I'm very, very optimistic that things will really pan out because we [were] so great last year," said Ward, of Coram. "We're going to continue to do what we did last year and even more."