Students can talk during lunch again as Wake schools ease stringent COVID rules
The Wake County school system has revised its COVID-19 school lunch rules amid complaints from parents and before the return of more students to daily in-person instruction.
Wake County will no longer require 6 feet of social distancing between people during meal times, according to guidance updated this week. The change goes into effect immediately at elementary schools and in April at middle schools and high schools, when they switch to Plan A daily in-person instruction.
“When students return in Plan A, students and employees are strongly encouraged to maintain as much social distancing as possible with the goal being six feet, and only remove face coverings when actively eating or drinking,” Wake said in an update Thursday to families and school employees. “Individual schools will decide how to best maximize social distancing while eating, based on the facility and available resources.
The new guidance also says students can talk during meal times, under certain conditions, and that students may be given the option of sitting on the floor to eat but shouldn’t be required to do so. Parents had complained that the school lunch rules were too strict on students.
Wake is citing updated guidance from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for the changes. Other DHHS changes this week include ending the requirement that schools must do daily health screenings and temperature checks before students, school employees and visitors enter school buildings.
Schools are bracing for the return of large numbers of students, especially at middle schools and high schools, in April. Schools across the state are switching from a hybrid of in-person and online classes to daily in-person classes.
The new meal guidance comes as Wake families have until April 1 to decide whether they want their children to have 100% in-person classes or 100% online classes through the end of the school year.
Socializing allowed during meals
Breakfast and lunch pose health concerns for spreading COVID-19 because they’re among the few times in the school day when students and school employees are allowed to remove their face masks.
Wake traced a COVID-19 cluster at Lynn Road Elementary School in Raleigh to meal time.
In February, Wake announced new, stricter meal rules that went into effect after students returned to in-person instruction. Students had spent the prior six weeks taking only online courses due to concerns, in part, about a post-holiday coronavirus spike.
In addition to requiring 6 feet of social distancing, Wake told schools “eating time should only be long enough to allow students to consume their food without socializing.”
“It was never our goal to put the entire student body in a silent lunch,” Edward McFarland, Wake’s chief academic advancement officer, said at a school board meeting this week. “But that is how our lunch guidance has been interpreted in some places, and we own that.”
The new guidance says students shouldn’t talk or socialize while their face masks are off. But once they’ve finished eating and their masks are back on, students “should be permitted to talk with other students who have also finished eating and put their face covering back on.”
The new guidelines also suggest that schools consider allowing students to go outside to socialize after they have finished eating. Students would be required to have their face masks on and be encouraged to maintain as much social distance as possible.
Off-campus lunch, outdoor eating encouraged
Other changes in the new Wake guidelines for Plan A schools include:
▪ Six feet of social distancing is recommended, but not required, during water breaks.
▪ High school students will be allowed to have off-campus lunch.
▪ Students may sit facing one another if there is not adequate space to maintain 6 feet of social distance.
▪ Schools are encouraged to assign seats during meals, especially for younger students, to reduce the number of interactions when face masks are off and to help with contact tracing in case someone is diagnosed with COVID-19.
▪ Schools should consider allowing students to eat outside when weather permits.
▪ When there’s not enough traditional seating to allow social distancing during eating, schools should consider having meals in places such as classrooms, media centers and courtyards.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 11:59 AM.
