ABILENE, TX — The CDC is requiring desks in classrooms to be 3 feet apart from one another rather than 6 feet. With about 13,000 students in Abilene learning in-person it may be difficult to have students spread out, but AISD Superintendent Dr. David Young believes it’s possible.
“In many middle school classrooms, I walked in, and I saw students that were more than 3 feet apart,” said Dr. David Young. “In an elementary school where you’ve got 20 kids and 3 kids sharing a table they’re probably close to 3 feet apart, but we can’t guarantee that all the time. We do still keep the mask rule in place,”
Dr. David Young says he stands by the new CDC guidelines, which state its recommended there is 3 feet between students in classrooms.
“We do the best we can to spread kids out in whatever space we have,” said Dr. David Young. “That has been our premise even before the CDC made this change. However, because we cannot always guarantee that, it has been largely one of the main reasons why we felt strongly about the mask mandate for all students at every grade level.”
According to Dr. Young, from the beginning of the school year and even after the governor’s order, keeping face masks on in the classroom has been the main source to protect all faculty, staff and students.
“What we want is to keep everyone as safe as possible,” said Dr. David Young. “And if we’re over doing it a little bit that’s not something I’ll apologize for in keeping kids too safe.”
Dr. David Young states that they have already started the 3 feet regulation in the classrooms.
