photo by: Associated Press

Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson reviews material on his laptop during a break in a State Board of Education meeting, Tuesday, July 14, 2020, in Topeka, Kansas. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Story updated at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday

TOPEKA (AP) — The state school board is recommending that Kansas elementary schools continue in-person classes even if the spread of the coronavirus in their communities is so great that schools otherwise would close.

The State Board of Education on Tuesday updated its pandemic guidance, which many local school districts are following closely, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The change comes after a surge in coronavirus cases across the state over the past month prompted some districts to return to online-only classes for many or all of their students.

During the seven-day period that ended Wednesday, Kansas had a daily average of 2,535 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases, 52 new COVID-19 hospitalizations and 37 deaths from the disease, according to state Department of Health and Environment data.

Education Commissioner Randy Watson cited research showing younger students do not get as ill when infected.

“The chance for the virus impacting elementary schools, both from a teacher and student standpoint, is so low that the risk of not being in school is higher than being in school,” Watson said.

The state Department of Health and Environment reported that as of Wednesday, 3.3% of the state’s nearly 180,000 coronavirus cases and none of its more than 1,900 COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic were in children 9 years old or younger.

But the department also reported that there have been 109 clusters of two or more cases in schools among students and staff, with nearly 1,300 cases, 15 hospitalizations and a staff death. The state’s largest school district, Wichita’s, reported last month that it had more than 600 cases between Aug. 1 and mid-November, with 61% of them among staff. It also reported that more than 200 staffers entered quarantine last week because of potential exposure to the virus.

The state board also voted Tuesday to allow local districts to subtract up to 20 hours of professional development for staff from required hours of classroom instruction.

The board’s vote came with Kansas officials hoping to distribute the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer to health care workers who are deemed at high-risk of contracting the disease, including nursing home workers and residents. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could consider within days whether to authorize the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine, which requires two doses. However, it’s likely to be months before the Pfizer vaccine or one made by Moderna that is also being considered for emergency use will be available to everyone.

Gov. Laura Kelly has said the state expects to receive the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine for 23,750 people as early next week if the FDA authorizes it.

Kansas added 5,778 coronavirus cases to its pandemic tally since Monday, increasing the total since the start of the pandemic by 3.3%, to 179,803. It also reported a net increase of 145 hospitalizations over those two days, bringing the total to 5,654. The state’s COVID-19 death toll increased by 85, to 1,941.