Will 3-Foot Spacing Still Make Sense With New COVID Variants in the Community?

As the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 evolves, school leaders’ work to track and mitigate outbreaks in schools will have to adapt to keep up.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month relaxed its guidance for physical distancing in schools, advising that elementary schools and some secondary schools can separate students and staff by three feet instead of the six feet previously recommended, as long as schools maintain universal mask-wearing and other protective measures. (The CDC kept 6-foot spacing recommendations in place for middle and high schools in...