BOSTON (WHDH) - Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy on Friday urged state officials to delay the return to full-time, in-person learning to give more educators and staff a chance to get vaccinated. She also questioned the safety of new classroom changes that were announced by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We urge the state to delay ordering full in-person learning until on or after April 26. This will give more staff a chance to be vaccinated and give school districts more time to cope with the logistical challenges of such a dramatic change so late in the year,” Najimy said in a statement.
Education Commissioner Jeff Riley is working to bring elementary school students across the state back to class for full-time learning starting on April 1.
Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Board of Education voted to give Riley emergency authority to reopen schools for in-person learning.
The CDC announced relaxed school restrictions, saying students can safely sit just three feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks.
Najimy is now worried the CDC’s change could possibly lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases in school buildings.
“The CDC has said for nearly a year that six feet of distancing helps reduce the spread of the coronavirus in schools. The new guidance says three feet is now good enough in most circumstances, even though it will lead to a sharp increase in the number of potentially infected people in our school buildings,” Najimy explained. “For Massachusetts, this guidance comes at a time when new cases are relatively high and more contagious variants are spreading.”
Najimy added that she thinks the state should delay the return to class to give parents time to decide whether sending their children into more crowded schools is a risk worth taking.
“Our members want to be with their students. We truly hope that three feet is safe enough, especially for our unvaccinated students and their families. But we can’t let down our guard,” Najimy said.
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