Samantha Pierce said her four children are ready to head back to class in the Syracuse City School District as long as it’s safe.

“A space where there’s a lot of handwashing,” said Pierce. "That’s regularly cleaned by the building staff. A space where the staff are free to go home if they’re sick and they’re not expected to come in, and there’s a procedure in place if a student is sick.”

The Syracuse Teachers Association wants students in school as well, but members have some safety concerns of their own. They’re meeting next week to discuss the issues and present them to officials.

Social distancing is one of the biggest topics right now – debating whether students should be spaced three or six feet apart.

“The data supports that schools aren’t the places where COVID-19 has been spreading,” said Pierce. “Whether it’s three feet or six feet, that really is guidance information that would need to come from the public health experts.”

“Monday maybe, Dr. [Indu] Gupta will have an update for us,” said Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon. “I understand the concerns. The six feet, it could have been three feet the whole time. It became six feet because everyone was saying the kids won’t wear the masks. They have worn the masks. Again, the district is going to have to work with their workforce.”

The New York state health commissioner said they hope to provide more guidance by next week. McMahon said administrators have to submit their plans to the health department for approval.

“Dr. Gupta’s team will look at the data,” said McMahon. “The school district makes the call. We just set forward guidance based off of the data and the best interest in this community for public health.”

Meanwhile, McMahon said they’ll continue vaccinating educators, reaching more than 2,600 by the end of this week. Parents like Pierce hope this progress will also help make in-person learning safe again.