Washington, Feb 6 (IANS): Rochelle Walensky, Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the federal health agency will release a guidance on school reopening in the coming week.

"Our goal is to get children back to school. School should be the last places closed and the first places open," Walensky said at a White House briefing on Friday.

"Our goal is to make sure in getting children back to school that we do so both with the safety of the children and the safety of the teachers," she added.

Reopening schools in his first 100 days in office is an important part of US President Joe Biden's goals, reports Xinhua news agency.

However, the issue has sparked controversy across the country as many people were concerned whether it would be safe for teachers and children to return to classrooms if they have not been vaccinated.

"Among the things that we need to do to make sure that schools are safe is to make sure that the community spread of the disease is down," Walensky said.

"We are actively working on the guidance, the official guidance, which will be released in the week ahead," she added.

On Friday, the National Center for Education Statistics at the US Department of Education announced a new survey which is the country's first federal effort to track school reopening.

The survey will be administered to approximately 7,000 nationally representative elementary and middle schools across the country.