NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – New York state has decided that in most cases students can now be 3 feet apart in schools instead of 6 feet.
The guidance, updated on the Health Department site late Friday, was first recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in March.
The new rule takes barriers away, but masks will still be mandated at all times for everyone.
All students in counties with low, moderate and substantial risk of transmission are allowed to be 3 feet apart in the classroom.
In counties with high risk of transmission, elementary students can still have 3 feet of separation, but middle and high schoolers will have to go back to 6 feet if they are not able to be in pods, which are groups of students who are with each other throughout the day.
United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew pointed out that New York City only has about 30% of its students in the classroom for any amount of time each week. Only 40,000 city students chose to opt back into in-person learning for the remainder of this school year.
Mulgrew said the new guidance will mostly mean changes in the city’s elementary schools.
Andy Pallotta, president of the New York State United Teachers union, said the new distancing rule is just one part of a layered mitigation strategy.
There are exceptions for students under the new guidelines. For example, they'll still be required to be 6 feet apart when they eat.
All adults in a school will still need to be 6 feet apart from each other, as well as 6 feet apart from students.