Students can now sit 3 feet rather than 6 feet apart in school classrooms, new state Department of Health guidance says.
The new recommendations, released quietly on Friday, leave the decision on whether to reduce the distance between kids to school districts. Before making a change and developing a new COVID-19 plan, each district or school — private schools also are covered by the guidelines — must get input from parents, community members, health departments, teachers and staff, the state health department said.
The recommendations were released three weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unveiled similar revised guidelines.
Rhonda Taylor, the acting superintendent for the Uniondale Union Free School District, says she is “really excited the state has caught up with the science that is showing that as long as we’re able to maintain a level of control in the classroom, that we can go to three feet and thereby bring more kids back. Our aim has always been to bring more kids back into the school, but safely.”
The district has worked hard to provide quality remote instruction, Taylor said Saturday, but “we note the isolation many kids are feeling being on a virtual platform … In-person instruction is the best mode of instruction for our scholars.”
On Monday, Uniondale, which has about 6,800 students, will begin allowing full in-person instruction for all children from prekindergarten through fifth grade, and hybrid learning for grades six through 12, Taylor said. In-person or hybrid instruction had already been permitted for several grades, but most parents kept their children with remote learning — although more have been sending their children into the school buildings as vaccinations have ramped up, she said.
After the CDC released its recommendations on March 19, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said the Nassau health department was advising schools that they could follow the 3-foot guideline.
In a statement Saturday, Nassau spokeswoman Christine Geed said, “The Department of Health just received this new New York State guidance and is currently reviewing it. They will be working with the school districts once the review is complete.”
Suffolk County officials did not immediately respond on Saturday to questions on how the Suffolk health department would advise schools.
Like the CDC recommendations, the state guidance says the one exception to the 3-foot rule is for middle and high schools in counties “with high risk of transmission.” They must keep the distance at six feet unless students are cohorted, which means the same groups of students are together all day.
In addition, children must remain 6 feet apart when eating or drinking, which would mean no meals in classrooms in which desks are 3 feet apart. Teachers must remain 6 feet apart when interacting with each other.
The requirement for masks and temperature checks will remain, the state said.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
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