Students who are headed back to public school Monday will no longer need to wear a mask while outside as New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks' rollback of the masking requirement goes into effect.

The rollback comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Sunday that the state will be dropping all mask mandates in schools, even inside, starting Wednesday March 2.

Banks announced on Friday that starting on Feb. 28, kids and New York City Department of Education employees could be outside at public schools without masks. However, indoor masking inside city schools will still be required.

Taking it one step further, Hochul has said Saunday that all school mask mandates, even indoor ones will be dropped statewide, but that it's still up to individual counties and cities if they'll follow suit.

She said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's risk assessment released on Friday is what tipped the scales as hospitalizations, positive cases and deaths related to COVID-19 are all down and vaccinations are up.

In a statement, President of the New York State United Teachers Union Andy Pallotta said, "We welcome this step toward normalcy. The governor is striking the right balance by empowering local officials to use data to determine if and when the mitigation strategies need to change in their areas..."

Hochul also said the state will continue to monitor the situation for any potential spikes in numbers or global trends and will make adjustments as needed.

Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city will not lift the indoor school mask mandate along with state guidelines on Wednesday.

He said instead, the city will evaluate the numbers at the end of this week and make a final decision on Friday and most likely roll back all school mask requirements on Monday March 7.