TAMPA, Fla. — The CDC is recommending that with masks, students in K-12 schools can now be three feet apart instead of six. But many teachers say there will likely not be a big change in Bay Area schools.
"You know honestly it doesn’t have a large effect in our Florida schools," said Rob Kriete, Hillsborough County Classroom Teachers Assoc.
Kriete says not much will change in Bay Area classrooms.
"We did everything we could in our schools to social distance from each other but quite honestly, it’s an impossibility," said Kriete.
Jeremy Blythe a Pasco County high school teacher agrees.
"The six feet, we’ve been doing it as much as we can, but let's be honest, it's not possible," said Blythe.
Blythe says his concern is that the new recommendations may cause some to become lax on the mask mandate as well.
"I feel like this makes the mask mandate even more important because now schools are hearing, oh it's three feet, (which could mean) it's less than three feet. Now we’re going to lose all regulation, this is just my opinion," said Blythe.
The CDC emphasizes that the new three feet recommendations are only for classrooms where masks are universal. They still recommend adults stay 6 feet apart, the same for middle and high schools where infection rates are high.
Damaris Allen, a Tampa parent says she hopes it doesn’t lead to more quarantining of students and teachers.
"I think if they start to see that there’s a problem they’ll back up from that and change the guidelines," said Allen.
Parents and teachers say their main concern is for the students, and they hope everyone continues to remain cautious.
