CDC changes school guidance, allowing desks to be 3 feet apart instead of 6

Some Long Island district leaders say they could bring back more students and possibly eliminate the hybrid instruction model under the latest recommendation from federal health officials that allows for students to sit 3 feet apart in classrooms.

Before that could happen, however, they need clearance from state and county government agencies, they said.

Meanwhile, two infectious disease experts said they weren’t surprised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest recommendation, but they had varying views on how safe it is for Long Island schools with the COVID-19 seven-day positivity average at 4.46% as of Thursday.

The CDC relaxed its social distancing guidelines for schools on Friday, allowing for at least 3 feet of space between desks in elementary schools, instead of the standard 6 feet. The 3 feet distancing also can be applied to middle and high schools but needs to revert to 6 feet in areas where there’s a high level of spread in the community. Teachers and other adults should continue to stay 6 feet from one another and from students, the CDC said.

"This is welcome guidance, but it’s not guidance we can readily adopt, yet," said Ron Masera, president of the Suffolk County School Superintendent’s Association. "We need New York State Department of Health to say that they endorse this and for Suffolk County to follow suit before districts in the county can bring back more kids with 3 feet distancing."

In an email, the state health department said it’s "reviewing the new CDC guidance" but did not elaborate if it planned to update state guidelines accordingly.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said in a statement that the new guidelines are "a step in the right direction to fully reopen our schools" and that the Nassau County Department of Health "advises that our schools may follow the updated CDC guidance for distancing."

Masera, who’s also superintendent of the Center Moriches school district, said he’s concerned, however, that if contact tracing guidelines don’t change, then many more students will need to get quarantined when positive cases arise.

The CDC did not include adjustments to contact tracing guidance, which defines a close contact as someone who was within 6 feet of a person diagnosed with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or more. If more students are in a classroom, then more will need to quarantine when a case arises.

"We would run the risk of having some large-scale quarantines within our school buildings," Masera said. Center Moriches plans to have all students return five days a week starting April 5 following 6 feet distancing rules but might adjust that if the state adopts the new recommendation, he said.

The distancing switch would mean more kids in a typical classroom — from 18 students currently to 25 students — for the Center Moriches district, Masera said.

In the Commack district, the switch would mean going from 12 to 16 students in a typical classroom to about 25 students, which in most cases is the full class size, Superintendent Donald James said. He added that the adjustment "would allow us to eliminate a hybrid model."

James added he would send a survey to parents before implementing the 3-foot distancing in schools.

Bill Heidenreich, superintendent of the Valley Stream Central High School District, said he would like the state to offer more clarity on the CDC guidelines should it adopt the recommendations. He said he needs to know what positivity rate would be considered "high" so that he can work with his administrative team to configure classroom plans for the high school.

The Uniondale district, where 90% of students started the year remotely, would be open to adjusting distancing protocols, Acting Superintendent Rhonda Taylor said. Earlier this month, the district began allowing certain grades to return on a hybrid model.

"If state and local health department guidelines are changed to follow this new direction, the district will look to reestablish its protocols," Taylor said. "Our main objective has always been to bring as many of our students back into our classrooms as possible while keeping them safe."

Anthony Felicio, president of the Connetquot Teachers Association, said he has many concerns about health and safety of students and teachers if districts start to follow 3 feet distancing.

"With more students closer together, when a case pops up you’re going to have more people home than your goal of having more people back in school," Felicio said. "When you’re in the trenches, and you see what’s actually going on, it really gives you pause."

New York State United Teachers, the largest teachers union in the state, said in a statement that it would like to review the science behind the CDC changes. "Abrupt changes can undermine public trust and clarity," NYSUT president Andy Pallotta said in the statement. "When it comes to changing local reopening plans, districts must continue to work with educators and parents to maintain confidence in the safety of their buildings."

The CDC’s new recommendation comes after a study out of Massachusetts found similar positive coronavirus rates among students and staff in districts that adopted 3-foot distancing rules and those that adopted 6-foot distancing.

Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of infectious diseases at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, said he believes more research needs to be done.

"The data is soft," Farber said regarding the Massachusetts study. "They didn’t specifically test people for COVID-19. They were dependent on results of people who happened to be tested and diagnosed with COVID, using the public health database. That’s not unreasonable, but it’s not hard science."

Farber also said the positivity rate on Long Island "is not terribly low. I think people need to be cautious, and if you have the ability to separate more than 3 feet, I think that’s prudent."

But Dr. Jennifer Lighter, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone Health, said the CDC’s recommendation was "long overdue."

"There’s so many negatives for kids not being in person in school," Lighter said, noting mental health and academic achievement has suffered among students. "The studies — there are few — but when they have been done comparing 3 feet or 6 feet when mitigation strategies are in place, there’s no difference in school transmissions."

The looser CDC guidelines are prompting the New York City public school system to invite families who chose to have their children do all-remote learning during the pandemic to now apply to return to in-person instruction, Mayor Bill de Blasio said late Friday afternoon.

A new opt-in period begins next week for all grades, with students through sixth grade due to return in late April for the remainder of the semester. The plan for the upper grades’ return is forthcoming, de Blasio said.

He said the goal is offering five-day-a-week schooling in person, but he promised only the "maximum days we can."