BOSTON (AP) – New evidence that it may be safe for schools to place students 3 feet away (half of the previous recommended distance) could offer a way to get more children from the nation back into classrooms with limited space .
Although more teachers are receiving vaccines against COVID-19, social distancing guidelines have continued to be a major hurdle for U.S. districts. The debate on the issue erupted last week when a study suggested that masked students can sit about 3 feet away without increasing risk to themselves or teachers.
Published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the research examined Massachusetts schools, which has supported the 3-foot guideline for months. Illinois and Indiana also allow a distance of 3 feet and other states like Oregon are considering doing the same.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now also exploring the idea. The agency’s director, Dr Rochelle Walensky, said the 6-foot guideline is “one of the biggest challenges” schools have faced in reopening.
The CDC included the largest space in its latest school guidelines, published in February, and concluded that schools can operate safely during the pandemic with masks, distancing, and other precautions. He suggested 6 feet and said that physical distancing “should be maximized to the maximum.”
Other organizations have published more relaxed guidelines, including the World Health Organization, which urges 1 meter in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics says the space desks are “3 feet apart and ideally 6 feet apart.”
Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, a group of national superintendents, said he expects more states and schools to move to the 3-foot rule in the coming weeks. With the larger guideline, he said, most schools only have room to retrieve half of their students at a time. Going 3 feet could allow about 75% at a time, he said.
“There are districts that have been doing 3 feet for quite some time without experiencing any greater amount of infection,” he said.
In Illinois, health officials said last week that students can sit 3 feet away as long as their teachers are vaccinated. Previously, state officials required 6 feet.
With the blessing of the state, the Barrington district near Chicago reopened middle schools on Tuesday using the minor spacing rule. Any student will be allowed to attend face-to-face classes, although the district expects approximately 30% to continue distance learning.
Questions about spacing have led to a battle in Massachusetts, where teachers and some schools oppose a state plan to return younger students five days a week starting next month. The plan requires schools to seat students 3 feet away, although many have used 6 feet as a standard. Districts that fail to meet the reopening deadline would run the risk of losing state funding.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association, a state union, argues that ensuring students are closer will increase the risk for everyone in the classroom. It also poses a problem for districts that have agreed contracts with teachers who adopt the 6-foot standard as a requirement.
“They can’t just throw 6 feet out the window. They can’t throw away what was agreed, “said Merrie Najimy, the union’s president. “If they don’t get it to work, they will have to come to a new agreement.”
Worcester public schools are among those that retreat against the nearest space. Tracy O’Connell Novick, a member of the district’s school committee, said changing to the 3-foot standard would be “betting on the health” of thousands of students and staff.
At Boston Public Schools, desks will be at least 3 feet apart, but teachers and staff will be asked to stay 6 feet from students and other staff when possible, the spokesman said. district, Xavier Andrews. Schools will also use larger rooms and outdoor spaces to keep students at a safe distance, he said.
In some states that already allow 3-foot spacing, schools say they have seen no evidence of increased risk. School officials in Danville, Indiana, which moved 3 feet in October, said students have been in the classroom year-round with no increase in virus transmission.
“It simply came to our notice then. I won’t say there has been no transmission, but it has been surprisingly low, like once or something like that, “said Tim McRoberts, vice president of the school board.” We kept the doors open. We didn’t have temporary stops. ” .
In Ohio, the Cincinnati school board had good attention from parents and others last month when it proposed resuming face-to-face learning at crowded Walnut Hills High School according to a model that called for just 3 feet away there while the other schools would use 6 feet.
Among the critics was Walnut Hills professor Brandon Keller, who said the plan was dangerous. He warned the board that his decision “will have a body count.”
Board members backtracked on the reopening of this school, and weeks later voted for a plan that included a gradual reopening, but also warned that the physical distance could be less than 6 feet. Students also have options to continue learning virtually.
Seven central Oregon superintendents sent a letter to Gov. Kate Brown last week asking the state to relax some of its social distancing rules, including the 6-foot barrier, so more students can return to class at full time.
The Crook County School District in Oregon, which has had students in classrooms most of the school year, has found that masks, tracking contacts, and sending students home when they show symptoms are the most common means. effective in fighting the virus.
“The 6-foot rule doesn’t make as much sense as other safety measures,” district spokesman Jason Carr said. “What might have made sense two months ago or earlier this year may not now.”
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Associated Press writers Philip Marcelo, John Seewer and Kantele Franko contributed to this report.