BOSTON (AP) – New evidence that it may be safe for schools to seat students a meter away – half the distance previously recommended – may offer a way to return more children in the country to classrooms with limited space.
Even with more teachers receiving vaccines against COVID-19, the social detachment guidelines remained a major obstacle for districts in the United States. The debate over the problem sparked last week, when a study suggested that masked students could sit up to 3 feet away without increasing risk to themselves or teachers.
Published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the survey looked at schools in Massachusetts, which have been supporting the 3-foot guideline for months. Illinois and Indiana are also allowing a distance of 3 feet, and other states, like Oregon, are considering doing the same.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are also exploring the idea. The agency’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said the 6-foot guideline is “among the biggest challenges” that schools faced at the reopening.
The CDC included the largest spacing in its most recent school guidelines, issued in February and concluded that schools can operate safely during the pandemic with masks, distance and other care. He suggested 6 feet and said that physical distance “should be maximized as much as possible.”
Other organizations have issued more relaxed guidelines, including the World Health Organization, which recommends 1 meter in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics says for space tables “3 feet apart and preferably 6 feet apart”
Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, a national group of superintendents, said he expects more states and schools to adopt the 3-foot rule in the coming weeks. With the broader guideline, he said, most schools only have space to bring back half of their students at a time. Changing to 3 feet can allow for about 75% at a time, he said.
“There are districts that have been measuring 90 cm for a long time without having a large amount of infection,” he said.
In Illinois, health officials said last week that students can sit a meter away from each other, as long as their teachers are vaccinated. Before, state officials required 1.8 meters.
With state approval, the Barrington district, near Chicago, reopened high schools on Tuesday using the smaller spacing rule. Any student will be allowed to attend face-to-face classes, although the district expects about 30% to continue with remote education.
Spacing issues have led to a battle in Massachusetts, where teachers and some schools are opposed to a state plan to bring younger students back five days a week starting next month. The plan requires schools to accommodate students at a distance of 3 feet, although many use 6 feet as standard. Districts that do not meet the reopening deadline are at risk of losing state funding.
The Massachusetts Teachers’ Association, a state union, argues that accommodating students closer will increase risk for everyone in the classroom. This also poses a problem for districts that have agreed to contracts with teachers who adopt the 6-foot rule as a requirement.
“They can’t just throw 6 feet out of the window. They cannot throw away what has been agreed, ”said Merrie Najimy, president of the union. “If they can’t get it to work, then they’re going to have to come to a new deal.”
Public schools in Worcester are among those that are resisting the smallest spacing. Tracy O’Connell Novick, a member of the district school committee, said that switching to the 3-foot standard would be “betting on health” for thousands of students and staff.
In Boston public schools, desks will be spaced at least 3 feet apart, but teachers and staff will be asked to keep 6 feet away from students and other staff when possible, district spokesman Xavier Andrews said. Schools will also use larger classrooms 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. Staff at the school in Danville, Indiana, which grew by 1 meter in October, said the students had been in the classroom all year with no increase in the transmission of the virus.
“It is going very well for us. I’m not going to say that there was no transmission, but it has been incredibly low – like once or something, ”said Tim McRoberts, vice president of the school board. “We kept our doors open. We had no temporary stoppages. “
In Ohio, the Cincinnati school board received a scolding from parents and others last month when it proposed to resume face-to-face learning at the crowded Walnut Hills High School under a model that required a distance of just 1 meter from there, while its other schools would use it. 2 meters .
Critics included Walnut Hills professor Brandon Keller, who said the plan was dangerous. He warned the council that his decision “will have a body count.”
Council members stepped back when reopening the school and, weeks later, voted for a plan that included a phased reopening, but also warned that the physical distance may be less than 6 feet. Students also have options to continue learning virtually.
Seven superintendents in central Oregon sent a letter to Governor Kate Brown last week asking the state to relax some of its social distance rules – including the 6-foot barrier – so that more students could return to school full time.
The school district of Crook County, Oregon, which had students in classrooms for most of the school year, found that masks, contact tracking and sending students home when they have symptoms are the most effective means of fighting the virus. .
“The 6-foot rule doesn’t make as much sense as other security measures,” said district spokesman Jason Carr. “What may have made sense two months ago or earlier in the year may not do it now.”
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Associated Press writers Philip Marcelo, John Seewer and Kantele Franko contributed to this report.