Schools adapt to new distancing guidelines
By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Social distancing measures will be more relaxed in Mon Valley classrooms.
While this could make things easier to accommodate more students in class, districts throughout the Mon Valley want to keep students as safe — and separated — as possible.
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided that students could safely sit 3 feet apart in classrooms instead of the previous recommendation of 6 feet, which wasn’t always simple.
Though many schools installed barriers, removed desks and staggered tables, older buildings were not designed for social distancing, especially as the number of students attending school have greatly increased since they were constructed.
Charleroi Area Superintendent Dr. Ed Zelich said while the change is welcome, the new guidance doesn’t provide much more wiggle room, so it won’t impact how the district has been operating since returning to class on a hybrid learning schedule in January.
“The thing is, our high school and middle school building was built in the 1960s and our elementary center was built in the 1990s,” he said. “Schools back then were not built for this kind of thing. Even 3 feet will be hard for us in a lot of areas.”
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