FILE - White Plains High School students walk between classes in White Plains, N.Y., April 22, 2021. The New York State Education Department is telling schools to continue to require masks despite a judge’s ruling overturning the state's mask mandate.  But some school districts already are rushing to drop the requirement.  The Education Department said in a statement Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 that the state was appealing the ruling, which could temporarily halt it, and that schools should follow the mask rule in the meantime. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)