New Castle County proposes investments in police salaries, parks, libraries and more

CDC guidance on schools changes, now Delaware districts have decisions to make for the fall

Brandon Holveck Jeff Neiburg
Delaware News Journal

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday issued new guidance that vaccinated teachers and students don't need to wear masks inside school buildings this fall.

The guidance does not advise schools to require shots for teachers and vaccine-eligible children and does not advise on how schools will determine who is or isn't vaccinated.

The guidance comes as Delaware's state of emergency, in place since last March, is set to expire Tuesday, July 13 – clearing the way for individual districts to decide on policies like face coverings.

"Getting Delaware students back into school full time this fall is the Governor’s priority," spokesman Jon Starkey said in an email. "The Governor’s team and the Division of Public Health have worked closely with school leaders over the past year to get students and staff safely back into classrooms."

Castle Hills Elementary School principal Janissa Nuneville walks through the school's hallways, set up for a year of remote and socially distant learning on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020.

Ultimately, districts will be free to adopt their own safety measures. 

For example, a Thursday letter from Smyrna superintendent Patrik Williams to families – before the new CDC guidance came out – outlined the district's board-approved position:

"The State of Delaware recommends the continued wearing of face coverings when students are present inside schools and offices once the Delaware State of Emergency expires on July 13th," Williams wrote. "Therefore, all staff and students who have not received the full dose of the COVID vaccine are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings to mitigate their risk of contracting the virus and facing extended quarantining as mandated by the State of Delaware."

Williams used the words "strongly encouraged" and not "required."

The letter then says that beginning Wednesday, after the emergency order lifts, "our families will, once again, be able to make health-based decisions that best serve their needs, and we support all of you in this charge. As always, please contact your school or district administration with any questions or concerns."

The changes in the CDC guidance come amid a national vaccination campaign in which children as young as 12 are eligible to get shots, as well as a general decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.

"We're at a new point in the pandemic that we're all really excited about," so it was time to update the guidance, said Erin Sauber-Schatz, who leads the CDC task force that prepares recommendations designed to keep Americans safe from COVID-19.

"The guidance is really written to allow flexibility at the local level," Sauber-Schatz said.

Holding pattern over?

State and school district officials said they were in a "holding pattern" while shaping plans for next school year. The districts were awaiting guidance from the state and the state was awaiting guidance from the CDC.

Carney said last month that states needed CDC guidance "sooner rather than later," noting how in May the eased mask rules for vaccinated individuals, which Delaware ultimately adopted, caught governors off guard.

Other governors had moved on without the CDC, giving some indication of what restrictions will or won't be in place. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said last week his state is planning to lift its mask requirements for schools and leave it up to districts to determine their own rules.

While Delaware reached President Joe Biden's goal of having 70% of its adult population vaccinated before Independence Day, relatively few K-12 students are vaccinated.

Through the end of June, 37.6% of Delawareans 12 to 17 were vaccinated with at least one dose. Those younger than 12 are still not eligible for the shot.

Genevieve Lunger, 12, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from Delaware Air National Guard Cpt. Johnathan Bowker at a Delaware Public Health vaccine event Wednesday, May 12, 2021.

While older adults have suffered from the most severe effects of COVID-19, case rates among teens and younger adults rose through the spring, and scientists are still deciphering the disease's long-term effects. The emergence of the delta variant in the U.S., considered a more contagious strain of the virus, has added another unknown to the equation.

"We just need to get as many people vaccinated as possible before school starts and before people start needing to do things indoors to have the best chance of having the most normal school year possible," said Dr. Jennifer Horney, founding director of the University of Delaware's epidemiology program.

More than 16,000 public and private school educators and staff were vaccinated through the Department of Education earlier this year. It's unclear what percentage of educators and staff that figure represents because the Department of Education does not track private schools. 

Until they are eligible to be vaccinated, children younger than 12 should continue to wear masks and limit indoor activities, Horney said. Officials anticipate at least the Pfizer vaccine could be approved for children around the time the school year is scheduled to begin.

Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Division of Public Health, said last month the CDC's guidance on summer camps was a "good transient indicator" of what was to be expected from the agency's school guidance.

The camp guidance suggested fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks, but mixing between groups should be limited and masking and distancing rules should remain in place for unvaccinated individuals.

In higher education settings where vaccinations will be required by the fall, the CDC says mask-wearing and distancing is not necessary.

Castle Hills Elementary School desks sit six-feet apart, as educators prepare for a year of remote and socially distant learning on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020.

As part of the changes to Delaware's emergency order announced last month, students and staff are not required to wear masks outdoors and educators can drop masks in schools and child care centers when children aren't present.

School district officials say distancing requirements made it difficult for in-school learning this year, even when they were lessened late in the year from 6 feet to 3 feet.

The CDC said schools should continue to space students – and their desks – 3 feet apart in classrooms. But the agency emphasized spacing should not be an obstacle to getting kids back in schools. It said distancing is not required among fully vaccinated students or staff.

New Castle County Vo-Tech Superintendent Joseph Jones was hopeful the distancing limits would be lifted to allow students to be hands-on five days per week. Last school year, the district never advanced past a hybrid arrangement because of the distancing requirements on buses and in the cafeteria, Jones said.

"It's really a capacity issue," he said.

Whether distancing at 3 feet is mandatory or suggested will have a significant ripple effect for all Delaware schools, said Jon Cooper, the COVID-19 coordinator for Colonial School District. 

Colonial is one of a few districts that has committed to offering a full hybrid option, but Cooper expects about 90% of students to be learning in-person. The district never advanced past 40% last school year.

"We’re going to need to be very strategic about how we set up," he said.

EastSide Charter school nurse Dottie Lennon, right, gives student Emani Griggs hand sanitizer Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. EastSide Charter tests staff and students for COVID-19 on a weekly basis.

Cooper believes the most likely approach to masks will be a shift from a mandate to "informed choice," especially if more children become eligible to be vaccinated near the start of the school year. He said mask guidance could look different for very young children.

'We're just not there yet'

Opinions among parents of how next school year should be conducted run the gamut, from those staunchly opposed to lifting mask rules to those hoping for as few restrictions as possible.

Heather Penna, the mother of two Concord High School juniors, is hoping her children can return to school for as "normal" a year as possible. They both learned entirely last year.

Now that they're both vaccinated and COVID-19 case rates are far lower than they were, Penna is eager from them to reclaim part of the typical high school experience.

Jessica Edwards is looking to place her elementary school and middle school students in virtual learning at the start of next school year. As of now, that doesn't appear to be an option in their district, Caesar Rodney, leading her to consider moving before the fall or homeschooling her children.

Caesar Rodney School District Superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald could not be reached for comment.

Asked if her children were vaccinated would her thoughts change, Edwards said they likely would.

"There's no protection now," she said. "Precautions that we have, I don't know how well they'll be managed. I feel like we’re not there just yet."

Reporting from USA Today was used in this story.

Contact reporter Jeff Neiburg at jneiburg@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.