Hopefully by the fall COVID-19 has died down but just in case it has not, the CDC has released some guidelines to help schools reopen safely. These new guidelines are much the same as the ones we showed you a couple of weeks ago with minor tweaks. However, many teachers and parents have seen this picture floating around:
This list has been posted on social media and picked up by news outlets. If you couldn’t tell by the misspelling of “guidelines” in the title, this list is not an official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention press release.
The list isn’t patently false, but it is misleading. It rewords many of the guidelines to sound more restrictive. It also removes key phrases present in the CDC’s release such as “when feasible.” To make matters worse, many have interpreted this hastily thrown together post as some kind of federal mandate.
Rest assure; the CDC is well aware that states are under no obligation to follow their guidelines. These recommendations are just that, recommendations. And while it would probably be in a school’s best interest to follow the guidelines many cannot, or will not.
“As some communities in the United States open K-12 schools, CDC offers the following considerations for ways in which schools can help protect students, teachers, administrators, and staff and slow the spread of COVID-19. Schools can determine, in collaboration with state and local health officials to the extent possible…”
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html
During these times, many people are jumping to offer their own opinions and takes on things but when it comes to safety please refer to the primary sources.
Read the CDCs Considerations for Schools here.