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Other scientists say the guidelines may not go far enough. There is no clear evidence that high levels of community transmission make in-person education riskier, said Dr. Elissa Perkins, director of emergency medicine infectious disease management at Boston University School of Medicine, co-author of the Massachusetts study.
“I applaud the initiative to take back elementary schools in person, regardless of community broadcast.” she said. “And I also understand that there are some questions about applying that to middle and high school students, although I’m not sure it’s fully in line with the evidence we’ve seen to date.”
While most school buildings are currently at least partially open, the six foot rule has prevented many from switching to full-time schedules in person.
In liberal states and districts where teachers’ unions have collective bargaining power, the new CDC guidance may strengthen the bargaining position of district officials seeking to return students to more normal hours and in person.
But many issues remain contentious and unresolved. Although the CDC continues to recommend a six-foot clearance when children eat, the fact that students need to remove their masks during lunch has raised concerns for educators and their unions.
It is not unusual across the country for schools to be closed one day a week, usually Wednesdays, during what is sometimes described as a “deep cleaning” day. However, many experts have emphasized that because the coronavirus spreads through the air, surface disinfection is less important than masking and ventilation.
Many teachers use the days away from school to prepare lessons and strategies for what remains a new and challenging mode of instruction, in which some students are in the classroom while others remain at home. In fact, there is still a significant minority of parents, many of them Black, Hispanic and Asian, who are hesitant to return their children to school during the pandemic.
CDC officials relied on the findings of several other new studies of transmission in schools to rewrite their guidelines. The studies, published Friday, examined viral transmission in schools in Florida, St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri, and Salt Lake County, Utah. Findings varied, but all articles emphasized the critical role that the use of universal masks plays in curbing school-associated infections.
