How omicron disrupted LI schools
Before omicron, LI's school year began with hopes of a new normal
Richard Haase, an English teacher at Candlewood Middle School and president of the Half Hollow Hills Teachers' Association, on Wednesday in Dix Hills. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
When the school year opened last fall, students were finally back in their classrooms full time. Then came omicron.
"The thing that really changed the fall semester was the rise of omicron and how quickly and how steeply that rose," Syosset Superintendent Tom Rogers said last week about the highly transmissible variant, which hit the Island in early December. "Omicron was a game changer."
Newsday's Dandan Zou reports the impact of the variant was so great that LI districts, which had largely avoided remote instruction in the fall, had to readjust to start 2022. The state sent districts COVID-19 test kits for distribution to parents, while Gov. Kathy Hochul promoted a test-to-stay program intended to reduce the number of schoolchildren in quarantine. Still, at least 11 districts had to temporarily turn to remote learning because too many teachers were sick or in quarantine.
Just after the holiday break, educators reported absentee rates of 20% or more in some schools. But superintendents said they have seen an upswing, back toward their regular attendance, over the past week or so.
In the Half Hollow Hills district, teachers are using their lunch or planning periods to cover classes of those absent, said Richard Haase, an English teacher and president of the district's teachers’ association.
"Teachers have been stretched for two years across the board and … two weeks ago was very, very difficult," he said Thursday. "We're back now; I feel like more of what we were like in November."
Meanwhile, in one school district: The Massapequa Board of Education voted to halt mask-wearing enforcement in its schools when the state mandate expires next month.
The number of new positives reported today: 806 in Nassau, 788 in Suffolk, 5,032 in New York City and 12,259 statewide.
This chart shows the number of new COVID-19 cases confirmed each day during December and January on Long Island.
See more charts like the one above, plus a searchable map of new cases and vaccination rates, on our data page.
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Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
