School districts in the Spokane area are waiting shorter distances for students for the state’s message

School districts in the Spokane area are waiting for a signal from state officials to determine how they will put less stringent restrictions on student segregation in their classrooms after a new federal policy was released on Friday.

It was clear, however, that students who are not in class full-time will not be setting off to a full-time schedule every weekday on Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday recommended cutting the current guidelines for 6 feet between students in the classroom to 3 feet in most environments, a standard recently endorsed by the state in some counties in east Washington .

A distance of three feet – along with wearing masks – would be safe at all levels of community transmission of COVID-19 for elementary schools, the agency said, and for all but high transmission rates for middle and high schools, if those classes should Walk 6 feet away if students cannot be kept in groups called cohorts.

The CDC defines “high” transmission rates as 100 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days. The Spokane Regional Health District records this rate every two weeks, and currently Spokane County has a case rate of 162 cases per 100,000 population.

The new CDC recommendations also highlight cohort formation as a key strategy in middle and high schools, especially when transmission in communities is high.

“These updated recommendations provide an evidence-based roadmap to help schools reopen safely and stay open to face-to-face lessons,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a press release announcing the new guidelines.

The Freeman School District signed a letter to Governor Jay Inslee and the Department of Health last week urging a move to the 3-foot rule, Superintendent Randy Russell said Friday, hoping the new CDC guidelines will help the state too its rules will lead to a change. This would mean that all of the district’s students in each class could return for full days, compared to now where kindergarten through 6th grade and high school graduates have full days and grades 7-11 have hybrid timetables.

“We haven’t heard anything but that they are taking it under discussion,” said Russell.

A Mead School District administration team met Friday “to talk about what if,” Superintendent Shawn Woodward said. “We have to sort out a few things.”

Mead, who also signed the letter, currently has all kindergartens through 5th grade five days a week on full days, while 6th through 12th grade students attend a full day twice a week. To meet current distancing guidelines, the district had to remove some furniture from classrooms that needed to be withdrawn, Woodward said. The 6-foot distancing is still in place in cafeterias that are already at full capacity, he added.

The CDC recommends schools to move around buildings, between adults and students, in public areas, and when masks cannot be worn, e.g. B. When eating, keep a distance of 6 feet between adults.

The district also needs to vaccinate some employees, Woodward said. Even so, it wants to get all students back “as soon as possible” and could do so in a week or two after receiving new rules from the state, he said.

Other school districts waited for a signal from the state.

“Gov. Inslee has not announced any changes for schools in Washington state regarding new CDC guidelines. In its most recent in-person learning regulation, school districts must comply with state and local requirements, ”Central Valley superintendent Ben Small said in an email to parents. “As the distance requirements for in-person learning are updated by our state and local officials, we will keep you informed of changes that you can expect in our schools.”

Inslee’s press secretary Mike Faulk said the CDC guidelines were under review and he wasn’t expecting an announcement on Friday.

The superintendent’s office for public education said the office is reviewing the new guidelines, but there is no change to the current 6-foot guide “at this immediate time.” Karen Conway, the executive assistant for communications, noted the differences in instructions between elementary and secondary schools, adding that the instructions for mandatory face coverings have not changed.

The state health department issued a statement that it will review the new guidelines with Inslee, OSPI and the local health districts to “continue our efforts to get students back safely to face-to-face classes.”

On Monday, Spokane County will move into Phase 3 of the governor’s reopening plan, along with all of the state’s counties that are now being assessed individually and not regionally.

In phase 3, interiors such as restaurants, gyms and cinemas can increase the capacity to 50%. The outdoor sports leadership also becomes effective, allowing some spectators at large sporting events.

To stay in Phase 3, Spokane County needs to keep cases and hospitalizations down. Counties must have fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 residents in two weeks and fewer than five new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents in the last week to stay in Phase 3.

Spokane County currently meets both of these requirements.

Here you can see the local numbersThe Spokane Regional Health District confirmed 81 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. Dates of death were not available due to data differences the district is working on.

In Spokane, 49 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19.

The Panhandle Health District confirmed 17 new cases of COVID-19 and no other deaths on Friday.

There are 23 panhandle residents who have been hospitalized with the virus.

Arielle Dreher’s coverage for The Spokesman Review is funded in part by Report for America and members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information, please contact the senior editor of our newspaper.