ORANGE, Texas — For students returning to in-person classes for the fall 2021 semester, the CDC has a new set of nonmandatory guidelines that are expected to influence how school officials prepare for the students return.
(Editors note: The above video is from a May 2021 broadcast.)
The CDC guidelines were updated to urge all school districts to fully reopen for the fall school semester.
The guidelines suggest that students and staff who are fully vaccinated should not be required to wear masks indoors, and it encourages schools to offer voluntary routine testing or self-checkups at least once a week.
Many districts around the area do not have finalized plans, but are using the new guidelines from the CDC to prepare to welcome students back into classrooms.
A recent report showed that only 31 percent of Southeast Texan’s ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated. Regardless of this, some school districts are moving ahead with their re-entry plans.
“We have protocols in place for safety standards to make sure items, especially those items that are in high-touch areas, are cleaned regularly daily,” Stacey Brister, superintendent for Little Cyprus Mauriceville Independent School District, said.
Unvaccinated children are urged by the CDC to wear masks and maintain at least a three-foot distance from others in the classroom. However, Brister said that masks are not a state requirement, so they will remain an option for parents and students of the LCMISD.
Most schools already require proof of childhood immunizations, but the Texas State Health Department said in part, “There is nothing in place at this time that would require a COVID-19 vaccine for school enrollment.”
The CDC suggests that bus drivers and students should wear masks, vaccinated or not, when travelling to and from school and continue to adhere to previous guidelines concerning sanitizing and opening up windows for ventilation.
The guidelines encourages schools to slowly lift COVID restrictions based on local case numbers and vaccination rates.