CDC Relaxes School Social Distancing Guidelines. Will NJ Follow?

NEW JERSEY - President Joe Biden is pushing, along with nearly every parent in the Garden State, to get students back in their classrooms, and a change to the social distancing guidelines made by the Centers for Disease Control on Friday could make it possible sooner.

Many public schools in the Garden State are finding it difficult to accommodate a full return if six feet of social distancing is required. This sticking point is often pointed out as a main contributor behind many schools offering hybrid schedules and cohorts.

The new guidelines state that most students can now sit 3 feet apart instead of 6 feet so long as they are wearing masks. This would mean more desks can fit in the classrooms and more students can return to in-person learning.

In New Jersey, the change could allow those all-virtual districts to begin hybrid cohorts and those already hybrid to begin in-person instruction five days a week. The revised COVID-19 recommendations is a change from the 6-foot standard that has forced some schools to stagger scheduling, remove desks and classroom furniture, and take other steps to keep students away from one another.

The new recommendation is for all K-12 students, regardless of whether community transmission is low, moderate or substantial, the CDC said. However, in communities where transmission is high, the CDC recommends that middle school and high school students remain at least six feet apart if schools aren’t able to keep students and teachers in assigned groups.

What hasn't changed is that the CDC continues to recommend at least six feet distance between adults in schools and between adults and students as well as in common areas, when eating or participating in in-door activities outside the classroom.

A spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Health told Patch Friday they are reviewing the new guidance.

New Study

Walensky noted that prompted more studies to say: Is six feet necessary in the context of mask wearing?

The first study that has been published that looked at three feet versus six feet was done in Massachusetts schools and published March 10 in the Oxford Academic. That study demonstrated that students, when there was 100 percent mask wearing, had similar infection rates when it - at six feet versus three feet, as well as staff had similar infections rate at six feet versus three feet when they were masked.

Currently, the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines suggest that desks a minimum of 3 feet apart, but should be 6 feet if possible. The World Health Organization says that in areas with community transmission of COVID-19, at least 1 meter of distance should be maintained. That is about 3.28 feet.

In Sync

When it comes to the pandemic response in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy has not adhered to the WHO or the APA in terms of the data being used to drive the policy. But the CDC has been the primary guiding influence of his administration.

Last week, when the CDC issues new guidelines for vaccinated people, Murphy was the first to say New Jersey would be following them.

"We've been pretty much adherent to the CDC guidance from Day 1," Murphy said. "We're one of the states that has basically in sync with them and I suspect you'll see us in sync here."

Assemblyman Brian Bergen called on Murphy to immediately implement the new social distancing guidelines issued Friday.

“Governor Murphy hasn’t hesitated to use his seemingly immense power to force schools to close,” said Bergen . “If it’s about the science, he should immediately reopen them.”

Thursday marked one year since New Jersey schools closed and transitioned to all-remote learning or hybrid schedules. Schools with small classroom sizes have been unable to accommodate students who want in person learning and when they can, it has been on a cohort schedule, not every day.

“It is an indisputable fact that the best thing to do for our children’s education is in-person education,” Bergen said. “The governor has the ability to get more kids back into in-person learning where our teachers, parents, and the students themselves all want them to be.”

Patch reached out to the Office of Governor Murphy and will update this story with their response.

You can watch the full briefing below.

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