The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will not change its guidance for reopening schools despite pressure from President Trump.
Director Robert Redfield told ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday that his agency would instead provide supplemental information to assist schools as classes begin in the fall.
“Our guidelines are our guidelines, but we are going to provide additional reference documents to aid basically communities in trying to open K-through-12s,” Redfield said. “It’s not a revision of the guidelines; it’s just to provide additional information to help schools be able to use the guidance we put forward.”
Trump criticized the existing guidelines on Wednesday.
“I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools,” he said in a tweet. “While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!”
The president and other members of his administration, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, have strongly advocated for schools to be reopened fully for in-person classes in the fall despite the recent uptick in new coronavirus cases throughout the country.
Redfield stressed that the federal guidelines are not mandates.
“Right now, we’re continuing to work with the local jurisdictions to [discover] how they want to take the portfolio of guidance that we’ve given to make them practical for their schools to reopen,” he said.
