Students in California can now sit 3 feet away in classrooms – instead of 4 or 6 feet – on the guidelines that state officials issued on Saturday, a major policy change that will put pressure on local officials to a faster and more complete reopening of campuses that have been closed for over a year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local education leaders will have the final say – and the Los Angeles Unified Supt. Austin Beutner said on Sunday that Los Angeles schools would follow the 6-foot rule. Still, the terrain has changed rapidly since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday its endorsement of a 3-foot rule for primary schools. The agency also approved 90 cm table spacing on campuses with older students, but there are substantial caveats, including the rate of coronavirus cases in the community.
It only took a day for the state of California to do the same. LA County health officials have not yet formally announced their own rules – which may be stricter than those of the state – but Paul Simon, director of science for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said on Friday who is “quite confident that we will incorporate this CDC Guidance into our own guidance for schools.”
It seems likely that the speed with which the new state standard comes into use will vary from place to place. Some schools and districts were irritated by the restrictive measures and will almost certainly accept the revised rules immediately. But many school systems have also approved agreements with their teacher unions that stipulate a 1.8m portfolio separation. These districts include Los Angeles Unified, the country’s second largest school system.
Beutner said Sunday morning: “The CDC’s recent orientation will not change our current reopening plans.
“Our challenge is to convince families that schools are safe, without finding ways to put more children in the classroom.”
The first survey results released earlier this month indicated that about half of the students would be returning when campuses started to reopen in mid-April. Families were more reluctant in the communities most affected by the pandemic. Beutner tried to reassure them that Los Angeles schools will apply the nation’s leading security protocols. This effort will include an online “city hall” on Sunday at 1:30 pm. Anyone who wants to participate can register at this link.
United Teachers Los Angeles held a vote to ratify the campus return agreement last week and hopes to announce the results today. On Friday, union leaders quickly and harshly criticized the revised CDC guidelines, saying they would endanger students, their families and employees by making transmission of the virus more likely.
The new 3-foot table spacing standard is based on recent research evaluated by state and federal health officials. It is based substantially on the experience in Massachusetts, where school officials were allowed to choose a 1 to 2 meter separation. The researchers concluded that there was no material difference in the risk of dissemination in the two formats – as long as other security measures were followed properly.
On Friday, national teacher union leaders urged caution in applying these findings to all situations.
The 3-foot pattern is an important metric because it can allow school districts to bypass alternate and hybrid schedules and return students to campus full-time in much the same way as a normal school day. The increased spacing between desks had the effect of preventing students from all returning at once in a standard California-sized classroom.
Other security protocols would not change. Most notably, students must still wear masks at all times during classes.
“It is highly recommended to keep a minimum of 3 feet between students’ chairs”, state the revised guidelines. “A series of physical distance recommendations have been made nationally and internationally, from 3 to 6 feet.”
But if there are doubts about whether students will keep their masks on, “consider more robust physical distance practices.” And the guidelines emphasize layers of mitigation, such as keeping groups stable, improving ventilation, and continuing to keep 6 feet apart “as much as possible” during times when students or staff are not masked, including when they are eating or drinking.