The messages from the scientists and the president are aligned: let’s get our children back in school full-time.

Whether students returning to school are a significant factor in spreading the COVID-19 virus has now been extensively studied. The conclusion is that they are not, if schools take the appropriate steps of requiring mask covering, practicing separation, and clustering students in “cohorts,” so that if a student is infected quarantining can be limited to the group, rather than shutting down entire classes or schools.

These are the steps schools in Connecticut have been taking. But the latest research suggests that schools which have been practicing a hybrid model — some days in school some days remote learning — should give serious consideration to students fully returning to school.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed the best data and studies available to reach their conclusion that “we can keep transmission in schools and educational settings quite low.”

“There has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission,” states the article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The majority of students are going to learn better in a traditional in-school setting. Minority and poorer students face disproportionate challenges when it comes to remote learning. Educators recognize that absence from school during the pandemic has widened the achievement gap between students in the more affluent suburbs and their counterparts in the urban centers.

Beyond that, having students home rather than in school can make it difficult, or impossible, for some parents to continue working. And it places additional stress on families, with all the negative outcomes that can result from that.

President Joe Biden has recognized how critical it is to reopen schools as much as possible. In his proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, the president seeks $130 billion in federal aid to assist states in their efforts to get classrooms open to in-school learning. The money could be used to help provide smaller class sizes, improve ventilation, and purchase personal protective equipment, for example.

These findings are good news and hold out the hope of a spring that sees Connecticut edging toward normalcy.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.