Mathews County Public Schools edged a step closer to offering full, in-person instruction, with the school board giving Superintendent of Schools Nancy Welch authority to reduce the separation between students from the current six feet to three.

This will allow students who have been struggling during the pandemic, with failing grades in one or more of the core subjects, to come back to the classroom four days a week, she said.

The board gave its consent during Tuesday’s monthly meeting, which was held in the Harry M. Ward Auditorium at Mathews High School.

In revised guidelines issued by the Virginia Department of Education on March 9, while the separation of six feet between pupils should be maximized to the greatest extent possible, “minimum distances between three and six feet may be considered if masks are worn and if it is necessary to continue some form of in-person instruction.”

“In some classrooms right now, classrooms are maxed out” in terms of numbers of student...