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The Biden administration’s advice on how schools can “open safely” will come from several federal agencies and departments, according to several people familiar with the plan.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to release an “operational strategy” saying it would be prudent for K-12 schools to reopen if they follow recommended “mitigation” practices, according to an email sent by an education department. Formal solicitation of comment from educational groups and obtained by CBS News.
The CDC guidelines, which are expected to be released this week, build on guidelines already released by the agency, a federal official told CBS News. It is expected to focus on five areas of COVID-19 mitigation in schools, rather than relying on vaccinating teachers as a prerequisite for reopening.
Mitigation practices include ensuring that teachers and students wear masks, maintain good social distancing, and institute a good “hand hygiene” program with appropriate cough and sneeze etiquette.
Advice on cleaning and ventilating facilities, implementing a robust contact tracing program and isolation and quarantine will also be included in the guidance, according to the official.
The Biden administration will advise that teacher vaccination is complimentary, suggesting that while school districts adhere to recommended mitigation practices, mandatory vaccination of all teachers is not a prerequisite for schools to reopen. There was already a strong indication that this would be the position taken by the administration, since CDC director Rochelle Walensky had already said so last week.
“Growing data suggests schools can safely reopen and that safely reopening does not suggest teachers need to be vaccinated,” Walensky said on Wednesday, reiterating that vaccinating teachers was “not” a prerequisite “.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Walensky was speaking in a personal capacity, as the CDC’s guidelines had not been released.
This has been a point of contention for some teachers’ unions, who have insisted on vaccinating educators before schools reopen. However, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told Boston Public Radio on Friday that vaccinating teachers was “not a prerequisite” for reopening.
But teachers are already part of a priority group for vaccination: According to the COVID-19 vaccination recommendations established by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, educators are in phase 1b.
As of February 9, at least 26 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have made some or all teachers eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine, Education Week notes.
The guidelines are expected to encompass all K-12 students, unlike Biden’s current White House goal of reopening schools, which only targets K-8 students. Asked Tuesday about Mr Biden’s goal, Psaki said the goal was to reopen a “majority of schools – so over 50%” with teachers teaching “at least one day a week” on day 100.
But sixty-four percent of K-8 students are already offered some form of in-person instruction, either full in-person instruction or a part-time blended learning model, according to the data collected and analyzed by Burbio and reported by CBS News.
In an interview on Sunday, President Biden told CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell that the guidance could be released as early as Wednesday. But a federal official later said the release date would likely be Friday. Several officials told CBS News that guidance is still being finalized and could potentially change.
“Soon after” the CDC announced its updated guidelines, the education department plans to release “volumes” of its own advice, according to an email from Kimberly Watkins-Foote, acting director of the national education department engagement team.
It will begin to focus on the “practical application” of CDC advice: how to plan for in-person learning and engagement and additional “supports” and “protections” for students and educators, with an emphasis on “trauma-informed approaches to meeting the socio-emotional needs of students and staff,” according to the email. These guidelines will also advise districts on how to use funds allocated to schools and state and local governments to make schools safer.
The second volume is expected in the “next few weeks” and contains ten topics for now, according to the email. The “topic projects” might change, but they are currently dealing with the social and emotional well-being of students and teachers, how to fill the learning gaps that have occurred due to COVID-19, “supporting educators, including promoting diversity of educators ”, online and in-person learning, school nutrition and“ digital equity ”.
Another topic is “extended learning time,” which may reflect a change in the school calendar this year or changes to summer school, which is briefly mentioned in Mr. Biden’s national strategic plan for COVID -19.
Advice from the Department of Education may also consider other concerns about “resource equity” through racial and socio-economic concerns, “school discipline” and increasing data collection “to support students, parents and educators ”. Last week, the federal government announced a plan to track the number of schools across the country that teach in person or virtually.
The Education Department has started soliciting feedback on these topics from education groups. During his early days in office, Mr. Biden issued several executive orders directing the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a “manual” for the reopening of schools.
The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House and the Department of Education declined to comment.
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