The New York State Health Department says it's aligning its COVID-19 guidance for schools to be in line with the Centers for Disease Control Guidance. That would allow school districts to open in-person classes with just three feet of space between students instead of six.
That would make the difference for a lot of school districts that want to return to five-day-a-week in person classes, but were forced to stick with partial online learning because they didn't have the space in their buildings for the six-foot distancing.
All students, staff and visitors to school buildings must still wear masks, but are allowed to remove them during meals. And everyone must have their temperature checked at least once per day. School buildings must be kept at a high degree of cleanliness to avoid contact spread of the COVID virus.