As of Friday morning, the CDC released new relaxed guidelines allowing students to sit three feet apart from each other in the classroom.

These regulations, however, have not quite been cleared for students of all ages.

"Because COVID-19 is spread more likely among older students, the CDC recommends that middle and high school students should be at least six feet apart in communities where COVID-19 risk is high," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. 

Low virus rates in other schools around the country already using that three-foot standard brought on the change. But the CDC reports that students should still remain six feet away from each other during lunch, sporting events, assemblies and chorus practice.

The guidelines also remove recommendations for plastic shields and other barriers between desks because the CDC doesn't have a lot of evidence that they're effective in preventing transmission. 

"It makes sense to me scientifically," said Dr. James Kravec, Chief Clinical Officer at Mercy Health, Youngstown. "It makes sense to me based on what we've seen from the spread in schools." He says they haven't been really seeing the virus spread in Valley schools. 

Poland and Youngstown school districts say these new guidelines won't really make much of a difference for them because they've been keeping their students three feet apart since the beginning.