CDC Updates New Guidelines Allowing School Desks To Be Closer
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just revised its rule on school desks being 6 feet apart, now allowing students to sit 3 feet apart.
New studies suggest that the new 3-foot rule would improve flexibility and mental health for students. Plus, that also means classrooms can fit more students now.
The revised COVID-19 recommendations represent a turn away from the 6-foot standard that has forced some schools to remove desks, stagger scheduling and take other steps to keep children away from one another. Source:NBC25.com
More studies suggest that students that practice 6-foot and another group that follows the 3-foot rule show no real difference in infection rate.
A recent study in Massachusetts looked at infections of students and staff members in schools that used the 3-foot standard and those that used the 6-foot one. It found no significant difference in infection rates. Source: NBC25.com
So with this info, you can imagine that 2021 will hopefully be the end of COVID-19 and we can ease back into normal life. If schools are slowly getting back to normal then so will everywhere else. The real question is how much damage has Covid-19 done to our school system? On one hand, I hear great things from parents and some students are flourishing. But, there are a lot of students that struggle with learning from a laptop and need that social interaction in order to keep them engaged. I remain hopeful as we go into the summer of 2021. Heck, we might even be back to 100% open by the end of the summer.
Fingers crossed!