While we applaud the Mayor and Chancellor's announcement to return Lower, Middle, and High School students back to the classroom this spring, these announcements are nothing more than empty promises unless the six-foot social distancing requirement is clearly removed from the Department of Education guidelines.  The six-foot distancing at all times forces schools to drastically reduce their classroom capacity, which makes it nearly impossible to deliver on the Mayor and Chancellor's promise to offer 5 days of in-person instruction for families who have opted in.

The science is now clear that the six-foot distancing is not essential to safely reopening schools. Many other states and countries have repeatedly shown that schools can safely open without a six-foot distancing requirement.  In fact, a study of 243 schools in Massachusetts demonstrated that there is no substantial difference in cases among students or staff in schools with three feet versus six feet of distance.  Most of these other states and countries that have successfully reopened their schools did so without having their teachers vaccinated.  Since New York State has appropriately prioritized teacher vaccinations, it is upsetting to most parents that we are still using the strictest interpretation of covid safety guidelines.

We ask that you please clearly remove six-foot social distancing requirement from school reopening so that schools can rapidly get students who have opted in to come back in person.  This will greatly facilitate putting New York City in a position for a full return to school in the fall.