CDC Recommends Reopening Schools

LOS ANGELES, CA — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday recommended the reopening of K-12 schools amid the coronavirus pandemic as long as safety protocols are in place.

Elementary schools need not wait until teachers or students are vaccinated to reopen, federal health officials said. Even in communities experiencing surging cases of coronavirus, it can be safe to reopen schools, the CDC added.

"It is critical for schools to open as safely and as soon as possible, and remain open, to achieve the benefits of in-person learning and key support services," the federal agency wrote in the new guidelines.

But the agency's guidance is just that. It cannot force schools to reopen, and CDC officials were careful to say they are not calling for a mandate that all U.S. schools reopen.

The long-awaited guidelines triggered immediate pushback from the California Teachers Association, which contended that educators should have access to the COVID-19 vaccine before they are required to return to the classroom and that most California schools lack the resources for the mitigation measures recommended by federal health officials.

Statewide, health and school officials are awaiting word from Gov. Gavin Newsom on a possible deal with legislators on a pathway to reopening elementary schools throughout the state.

Millions of students in California have been remote learning since the middle of March, and many school districts have opened and closed again based on local transmission rates.

Several of the largest county health departments in the state — including those in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Orange counties — have not yet begun offering the coronavirus vaccine to teachers. Meanwhile, communities such as Long Beach and Riverside are already well into the process of vaccinating teachers.

The state, however, did issue new guidelines Friday recommending that people at high risk because of severe health conditions become eligible for the vaccine as early as March 15. Vaccine-eligible conditions include chronic pulmonary disease; Down syndrome; pregnancy; sickle cell disease; heart conditions, severe obesity; and Type 2 diabetes. The move is seen as critical to the safe reopening of businesses and schools.

The CDC said school reopenings have proven to be safe, with few cases of community transmission attributable to classrooms. The CDC based its recommendations on new studies concluding that elementary schools have had low transmission rates even in communities suffering extreme outbreaks.

But middle and high schools have been tied to coronavirus outbreaks at higher rates than elementary schools. They can reopen when community transmission rates are lower or when regular testing can be conducted to identify infections among asymptomatic students and staff, the CDC recommended.

“CDC’s operational strategy is grounded in science and the best available evidence,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters.

Recommended mitigation measures include hand washing, disinfection of school facilities, diagnostic testing and contact tracing to identify new infections and to separate infected people from others in a school. The CDC was also more emphatic than in its past guidance on the need for people to wear masks in school.

“We know that most clusters in the school setting have occurred when there are breaches in mask wearing," Walensky said in a call with reporters. Vaccinating teachers can provide “an additional layer of protection," she said.

Moments after the CDC guidelines were released, the California Teachers Association convened a virtual news conference in which teachers and parents voiced their concerns with reopening schools before teachers are fully vaccinated.

No one wants children back in their classrooms more than teachers, said Claudia Briggs, a CTA spokesperson. The problem is that most schools do not have the resources to fully implement the measures recommended by the CDC, she added.

“School districts have made it very clear that they don’t have the resources,” Briggs said. “For these and myriad reasons, we have to get shots in the arm of all employees.”

California needs to ensure that schools have updated ventilations systems, additional handwashing facilities, physical distancing measures, testing and contract tracing capability and vaccines for all school employees, the association added.

The teachers union pushed back against the notion that schools should open because distance learning disadvantages poor and minority communities. Coronavirus infections and death rates also hit minority communities harder, and many families in those communities don’t want reopenings to put them at further risk, the union said.

Parent Marciela Velasquez said it frustrated her to hear reopening proponents cite her community as a reason to reopen schools. “Let me be clear," she said. "They don’t speak for me and for my community. I will not be sending my children back until it is safe. My children are precious to me and my family, and it’s not worth it taking that risk.”

Parent Maria Osorio said she worried the reopening process will be rushed at the expense of her family’s health as it has throughout the pandemic. “I am very sad because this pandemic has touched many members of my family and touched many friends of mine,” she said in Spanish, speaking through an interpreter.

Like many parents, she said she worried about the uncertain effect of the new coronavirus variant and childrens’ ability to wear masks and socially distance in school.

Both sides of the reopening debate have embraced the CDC's recommendations for safety mitigation measures. Proponents argued that the CDC affirmed their belief that millions of California students can’t remain locked out of their classrooms going into the second year of the pandemic.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said it's further evidence that schools are equipped to reopen now. The new information “affirms what many of us, including students and parents, have known for months: It is critical for schools to open as safely and as soon as possible," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.