San Francisco health officials released guidelines Wednesday on how to reopen city schools that include a strong recommendation that all students and teachers wear masks and stay six feet away.
Backed by several months of science on how COVID-19 is spread and what it takes to stop it, health officials pointed out that the adults are at greater risk of spreading the virus than students. They’re also at greater risk of falling seriously ill from it.
“We know from child care settings and summer camps that staff, not children, are most often the source of COVID-19 exposure in a facility,” officials said in the document that referred to several weeks of data they recently collected.
The restrictions apply to all schools in San Francisco.
The information will help guide the city’s school district, charter schools and private schools in determining when and how to reopen to students.
San Francisco Unified officials are working on the plan for the fall, acknowledging it’s unlikely all students will be able to return given the staffing, facility and other conditions required to get nearly 60,000 students back in classrooms by the first day of school on Aug. 17.
A final decision on if or how the district will reopen is expected on July 28.
The guidelines call for students to “ideally” stay six feet apart, but “when space is limited, three- to six-foot distancing in the classroom is permissible.”
The health officials also urge schools to take extra precautions for staff at greater risk of a severe case of the coronavirus , by allowing them to work from home, or have minimal interaction with students and staff — a recommendation that would limit the number of teachers available for in-person instruction.
Like most other counties that have also released school reopening guidelines, San Francisco calls for students to stay in stable groups, with the same teacher if possible. That means students wouldn’t interact with any other groups at lunch, recess or in other activities.
Middle and high school students could have larger cohorts made up of more than one classroom.
Given the need to keep students apart, the health guidelines call for removing furniture like bookshelves and play areas to allow for more desks.
District officials say adhering to the guidelines and addressing transportation and staffing issues will make it difficult if not impossible to reopen to all students, at least initially.
Muni, which many students take to school, announced limited service for the foreseeable future.
“If we know Muni is only going to be at 24% at the most, it’s highly unlikely that all 56,000 students return,” said Superintendent Vince Matthews.
Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
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July 09, 2020 at 02:08AM
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New SF guidelines to reopen schools: Masks all day for students and teachers - San Francisco Chronicle
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