Ithaca, NY — On Friday, Assemblymember Anna Kelles, Assemblymember Patricia Fahy, and 25 colleagues sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo and Health Commissioner Howard Zucker urging the New York State Department of Health to update guidelines for K-12 schools to reflect the existing science used to formulate new federal guidelines issued by the CDC. As stated in the letter, “There are 13 weeks left in the school year, and it is imperative that we act to safely increase in-person instruction this academic year for both elementary and secondary students. While research about the impact of the state of student’s mental health is ongoing, practitioners have observed that existing disparities are worsening.” Teachers have been eligible for vaccines since the start of the rollout and using the precautions outlined in the letter have been shown to provide significant protections.