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California students are now allowed to sit three feet apart in classrooms – instead of four or six feet – in guidelines released by state officials over the weekend. end, a major policy shift that will put pressure on local officials to consider a faster and more complete reopening. campuses closed for more than a year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local education officials, however, will have the final say – and the Los Angeles Superintendent of Schools. Austin Beutner said on Sunday that the LA Unified School District would keep the six-foot rule.
Yet the terrain has changed rapidly since the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday their approval of a three-foot rule for elementary schools. The agency has also allowed three-foot office space on campuses with older students, but there are important caveats, including the rate of coronavirus cases in the community.
It took a day for the state of California to follow suit. LA County health officials have yet to officially announce their own rules – which may be stricter than the state’s – but Dr Paul Simon, scientific director of the county’s public health department, has said on Friday that he was “fairly confident that we will incorporate this guidance from the CDC into our own guidance for schools.”
The three-foot standard is a key measure, as it could allow school districts to avoid staggered and hybrid schedules and send students back to campus full-time in something that looks a lot like a normal school day.
The wider spacing between desks had the effect of preventing students from suddenly stepping back into a full-size California classroom.
The other security protocols would not change. In particular, students should always wear masks at all times while in class.
The date the new state standard goes into effect appears to vary from place to place. Some schools and districts have resented the restrictive measures and are almost certain to adopt the revised rules.
Las Virgenes Unified, which straddles the border between Los Angeles and Ventura counties, is expected to start classes for all high school students on Monday, as part of a hybrid plan that will keep them at home in distance education about half the time.
“We are very interested in this new direction,” said Supt. Said Dan Stepenosky. It offers “a wonderful opportunity to have our high school students on campus for more classes in person.”
He added that he intended to discuss the revised rules with other district leaders and with the unions that represent the employees.
Many school systems have approved agreements with their teachers’ unions that provide for a six-foot office separation. Those districts include Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system, which has no plans to change its reopening protocols immediately, Beutner said.
“Our challenge is to convince families that schools are safe, not to find ways to prevent more children in classrooms,” Beutner said.
The first poll results released last week indicated that about half of students would return when campuses start reopening in mid-April. Families were most reluctant in poorer communities, which had the highest rates of illness and death from COVID-19.
That effort included an online town hall on Sunday. During the meeting, Beutner assured those listening on more than 625 computing devices that the district has “the highest COVID security standards in the country.”
He said this includes upgrades to the air filtration systems in each classroom that will operate around the clock, double the number of school guards and weekly coronavirus tests for students, staff. and their families. He said the district is also working to make vaccines available to families in school communities.
United Teachers Los Angeles said on Sunday that its back-to-campus deal was approved by 89 percent of members who voted.
Union leaders said the revised CDC guidelines would potentially endanger students, their families and school staff by increasing the likelihood of transmission of the virus.
“The continued erosion of state safety standards has made an unprecedented situation for educators, students and parents even more difficult,” said union president Cecily Myart-Cruz. “Our school communities need clear, science-based, and rooted in equity guidance, so that we can safely reopen schools while minimizing risk to our hardest-hit communities.
California State Teachers Association. spoke in similar terms.
“Another change in guidelines as a way to get back to classrooms quickly sends another confusing message to students, parents and families,” President E. Toby Boyd said in a statement. “Opening and keeping our schools open for in-person instruction is going to be a matter of all of us, a community and state effort, as national experts warn of a fourth wave and disturbing variants.”
Teachers and other LA Unified employees will not be expected to return to campus until they have had the opportunity to get their shots and achieve maximum immunity, which is why the in-person classes are delayed until at least mid-April.
Karla Garcia, who has a fourth grader enrolled at Palms Elementary on the Westside, called the new guidelines potentially wonderful, but said the district should move forward with the plan already developed.
“For now, to make teachers and parents feel confident, why not stick to the agreement in principle?” said Garcia, a parent parent of local advocacy group Reclaim Our Schools LA, which works closely with the union. “We’re almost gone.”
Garcia will keep his son at home for now, but added, “I think six feet instead of three will give families a little more confidence.”
Other parents hoped the guidelines would bring about an immediate change.
“This will allow middle and high schools to serve more students, which is desperately needed,” said Jill Pintens, who has two students at St. Anastasia Catholic School in Westchester and two children in high school. El Segundo. “Safety is not subjective and LA County cannot choose which CDC guidelines it prefers. Parents who are uncomfortable with the tight spacing still have the option of keeping their students at home for distance learning. “
“I would fire them full time today,” said Kelli Haas, who has fifth and seventh graders in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
The new office spacing standard is based on recent research evaluated by state and federal health authorities. It is based largely on the experience of Massachusetts, where school officials were allowed to choose a three or six foot separation. The researchers concluded that there was no significant difference in the risk of spread between the two formats – provided the other safety measures were properly followed.
Leaders of national teachers’ unions on Friday called for caution in applying the findings to all situations.
“It is strongly recommended to maintain a minimum of 3 feet between student chairs,” state the revised guidelines. “A range of physical distance recommendations have been made nationally and internationally, from 3 feet to 6 feet.”
But if there is any doubt as to whether students will keep their masks on, “consider more robust physical distancing practices.” And the guidelines emphasize levels of mitigation, such as maintaining stable groups, improving ventilation, and keeping six feet “as far as possible” away when students or staff are not. are not masked, including when eating or drinking.
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