CDC shrinks school distancing guidance, easing reopening

Study shows it's safe to have students 3 feet apart

In a move school administrators say will greatly ease the reopening of public schools and the return to full-time, in-person instruction, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that studies show it’s safe to have students 3 feet apart in classrooms, half the 6 feet that had been recommended.

The revision comes after medical experts across the country urged the CDC to reconsider its guidance, citing studies this year that found little spread of the coronavirus in schools where children were 3 feet apart and no significant difference where they were twice that distance.

“CDC is committed to leading with science and updating our guidance as new evidence emerges,” said CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky. “Safe inperson instruction gives our kids access to critical social and mental health services that prepare them for the future, in addition to the education they need to succeed. These updated recommendations provide the evidence-based roadmap to help schools reopen safely, and remain open, for in-person instruction.”

The World Health Organization has recommended one meter of distancing between students, which is a little over 3 feet.

School officials have said that apart from high infection rates and demands of teachers to be vaccinated, the CDC-recommended 6 feet of distancing between students was among the biggest barriers to returning kids to classrooms and especially to resuming full, five-days-a-week instruction on campus.

Spacing students 6 feet apart means fewer can fit into classrooms at once, forcing schools to set up makeshift classrooms in auditoriums and gymnasiums, and to split students into smaller groups and rotate them during the week between in-class and online instruction at

home. It was a particular concern for middle and high schools, which typically have more students per classroom.

California’s school reopening rules have generally followed the CDC’s, recommending 6 foot spacing “where practicable.” But in January, the state revised its guidance, saying schools should “distance teacher and other staff desks at least 6 feet … except where 6 feet of distance is not possible after a good-faith effort has been made” and “under no circumstances should distance between student chairs be less than 4 feet.”

Alameda County Superintendent of Schools L.K. Monroe said earlier this week that those distancing guidelines are “brought up constantly” among county superintendents statewide in their efforts to safely get kids back, and that allowing 3 feet would be “a game changer.”