Schools have been waiting on reopening guidance that the state Health Department doesn’t intend on providing — much to the chagrin of the state education commissioner.

School superintendents statewide have been asking the state Health Department and Gov. Andrew Cuomo when the state would release guidance on how schools should incorporate COVID-19 protocols into the upcoming school year. Local school officials had been expecting state guidelines regarding social distancing requirements for classrooms and school buses, vaccination policies, possible required COVID-19 testing and use of remote learning.

On Thursday, Dr. Howard Zucker, state health commissioner, said schools should follow guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and local health departments.

“With the end of the state disaster emergency on June 25, 2021, school districts are reestablished as the controlling entity for schools. Schools and school districts should develop plans to open in-person in the fall as safely as possible, and I recommend following guidance from the CDC and local health departments,” Zucker said.

That’s a change from Tuesday, when a state Health Department spokesperson told The Syracuse Post-Standard that state officials were reviewing recently released CDC guidance and daily COVID-19 data and would make recommendations for the fall reopening of schools. And, as of July 29, Betty Rosa, state education commissioner, sent a memo to education officials across the state saying staff in Cuomo’s office had told the state Education Department guidance from the state Health Department was being developed based on the CDC guidance.

Rosa said the Education Department had submitted several issues and questions to Cuomo’s office, including masking requirements, physical distancing, community transmission rates and local health department responsibilities while requesting statewide guidance on masks for all individuals and for all indoor events in lieu of screening and testing; use of mass transit masking rules for school-supplied transportation with no physical distancing; physical distancing of 3 feet indoors where possible; and better coordination by local health departments when school districts have facilities in more than one county, a situation that affects Erie-2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES.

After Zucker’s announcement, Rosa formally requested Zucker to consider the Health Department’s responsibilities in state law to protect public health.

“The Public Health Law provides that the Department of Health is charged with exercising control over and supervising the abatement of nuisances affecting or likely to affect public health as well as supervising and advising any local unit of government and the public health officials thereof within the state in the performance of their official duties,” Rosa said. ” Currently, there is no greater nuisance affecting public health and safety than COVID-19. There is an urgent need for timely advice and supervision flowing from the state Department of Health to local and school officials as they navigate these uncertain times. The circumstances enveloping the Executive Chamber this week should not prevent the Department of Health from the execution of its responsibilities to the public, as has been promised by the Governor’s Office for months.”