(Reuters) – US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines on Friday for reopening US schools, recommending universal masking and physical distance as key mitigation strategies for COVID-19 to bring children back to class quickly.
The guidelines here, which also emphasize the need for facility cleaning, personal hygiene and contact tracking, are intended to provide school districts with a roadmap to bring 55 million public school students back into the classrooms. , without causing COVID-19 outbreaks.
“We believe, with the strategies we have proposed, that it will be limited to transmission to schools if it is followed,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky told reporters, noting that the CDC does not mandate the reopening of schools.
The agency also said that the reopening of the school should not be conditioned by teachers’ access to COVID-19 vaccines, but strongly recommended that US states give priority to teachers and school staff for vaccination.
President Joe Biden has promised to reopen most K-8 schools within 100 days of taking office on January 20th. He praised the CDC’s guidelines on Friday and highlighted issues arising from the continued closure of schools, including the struggles for children’s mental health and the exodus of parents from the workforce.
“I have sacrificed so much in the last year. But science tells us that if we support our children, educators and communities with the resources they need, we can bring children back to school safely in many parts of the country sooner, ”Biden said in a statement.
Only 44% of school districts in the United States have been offering full in-person learning since December, and 31% have been working remotely, according to the Center for Reinventing Public Education, which studied 477 of the nation’s nearly 13,000 school districts. Other districts have used a hybrid learning model, in which students attend school days in person and some practically.
The reopening of the school has caused labor disputes between teachers’ unions, who fear for the safety of their members, and school districts in major US cities. In Chicago this week, the teachers’ union and the district reached an agreement on a security plan after months of negotiations that included strike threats.
On Friday, the American Federation of Teachers, which has about 1.7 million members, praised the CDC’s guidance based on “facts and evidence.”
“We urge the CDC to remain flexible as more data comes to light. The guidelines are instructive at this time, but this disease is not static, “AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement.
FLEXIBLE APPROACH
The CDC Stage Mitigation Strategy is adaptable to the level of COVID-19 transmission in a school community.
In areas where the positive COVID-19 test rate is below 5% and there have been fewer than nine new cases per 100,000 in the last seven days, schools can completely reopen and safely relax social distancing measures as long as masks are worn. , said Walensky. In areas with higher transmission, the agency requires 1.83 m of separation in classrooms and weekly testing of students, teachers and staff.
Elementary school students should learn at least part-time in person, even in high-transmission areas, the guidance says.
Recent studies have shown that personal learning has not been associated with increased community transmission, especially in elementary schools.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy criticized Friday’s reopening guide for not being bold enough to make sure students return to classrooms promptly.
“Families and students deserve better. They need iron-clad assurances that their children will be able to return to the classroom that provides the best educational model, “McCarthy said in a statement.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said Friday that House committees are working to approve $ 1.9 trillion Biden legislation in the US bailout plan, which includes a $ 130 billion investment that could help schools comply with CDC protocols to help schools enforce CDC guidelines.
“Without strong congressional assistance, our schools cannot afford to take the necessary science-based safety measures,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Boca Raton, Florida, Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, David Gregorio and Matthew Lewis