CDC: Strong evidence in-person schooling can be done safely

(AP) — The nation’s top public health agency says in-person schooling can be done safely with mask use, social distancing and other strategies, but vaccination of teachers, while important, is not a prerequisite for reopening.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its long-awaited roadmap for getting students back to classrooms in the middle of a pandemic.

But its guidance is just that — the agency cannot force schools to reopen, and agency officials were careful to say they are not calling for a mandate that all U.S. schools be reopened.