This article describes how an increasing number of districts across the country are no longer quarantining all close contacts of an infected individual but instead allowing them to remain in school, as long as they continue to test negative. This approach is called "test to stay" or "modified quarantine."
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This press release explains that pending full FDA approval for their age group, all California public schoolchildren will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as early as July 1, 2022, making California the first state with a mandate for students.
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This approval makes another 28 million children eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, which has been shown to be safe and effective at preventing illness and preventing the spread of the virus in children and adults ages 5 and up.
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This article describes how, in response to parent concerns, Chicago Public Schools are now offering weekly COVID-19 testing for students who opt in, a key mitigation strategy to prevent transmission and track the spread.
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With no dissenting votes, an FDA advisory panel provided emergency use authorization for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The vaccine has been shown to be more than 90% effective at preventing infections in this age group.
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This article summarizes recent findings that it is safe to mix and match COVID-19 vaccine types (Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna). It clarifies when and who should receive booster vaccinations based on which vaccine they originally received and on their personal risk factors. It also explains the potential benefits of getting a booster that is different from the original vaccine received.
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This press release describes how new state funding for in-person instruction and expanded learning will be distributed. It also includes a resource showing how much funding is available to each district.
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This article describes how Culver City Unified School District in California became the first district in the nation to require vaccines for eligible students.
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This blog post describes how federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act will be distributed to schools and how they can be used. It includes an interactive tool that shows funding allocations by state.
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This press release from California Governor Gavin Newsom's office details how the state is allocating funding for on-site rapid COVID-19 testing to those districts that have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
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This press release explains the new California public health order for all k-12 public school staff, who must either provide proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing.
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California announces it has 4,000 locations ready to vaccinate children ages 5-11, including 3,100 school-located clinics covering more than 2 million students.
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This news article attributes California's decline in positive cases to the state's skyrocketing vaccination rate, with more than 77% of the population inoculated as of September 18, 2021. The state's positivity rate is at a national low of 25 cases per 100,000 people.
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This press release describes initial findings from a rapid on-site COVID-19 testing pilot program. Out of 3,256 tests conducted across 8 districts, only 7 tests (0.21%) came back positive.
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This article from LPI's President and CEO shares data, the latest science, and examples of how to protect students, educators, and others in schools to ensure a safe return to in-person learning—a critical goal after the disruption to learning since the pandemic hit the United States.
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This article details how schools in England no longer require masks and have subsequently seen a rise in pediatric COVID-19 infections, with about 1% of all students aged 10 to 19 being infected each week.
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This press release explains that after following 12,000 recipients for 6 months to observe long-term safety outcomes, the FDA has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in individuals age 16 and older. The vaccine had previously received only emergency use authorization (EUA) for this population. The EUA still applies for individuals age 12 through 15.
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This press release explains the science behind the agency's decision to authorize COVID-19 vaccines in youth aged 12 and older after examining the effectiveness of a randomized-control trial of more than 2,000 participants.
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This press release describes new state investments to support a return to in-person instruction and expanded learning, as well as vaccination priorities for teaching staff, data reporting requirements, and establishment of a State Safe Schools team to monitor outbreaks.
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Los Angeles Unified is now the largest U.S. school district with a vaccine mandate for students aged 12 and older. This article describes the decisionmaking process and reactions from medical professionals and scientists who support the decision as key to protecting students.
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This article describes the required COVID-19 testing of all Los Angeles Unified School District students and staff before the start of school, which provides the district with a baseline for future surveillance testing.
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This article describes how one county became the first to schedule large-scale weekend vaccination events in October and November 2021 in anticipation of emergency use authorization of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the FDA in children ages 5–11.
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This news article summarizes two September 2021 CDC reports and emphasizes that pediatric hospitalizations were more than three times higher in less vaccinated states, underscoring the importance of widespread vaccination among eligible adults and children. The studies find that the Delta variant does not appear to cause more severe illness in children but is much more transmissible.
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This news article describes how more than 18,000 New York City public school teachers elected to receive their first shot the week before an October 4 deadline, mirroring the rush to vaccinate after the city issued a similar mandate for health care workers.
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This virtual summit convened district leaders, educators, and students, who shared best practices and lessons learned for reopening schools safely, with a focus on meeting students' social, emotional, and academic needs.
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This news report explains that all New York City public school teachers and other staffers will have to receive at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by September 27.
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This landing page links to the latest news on school reopening not only in New York City but around the globe, including media coverage of ongoing reopening debates as well as scientific evidence.
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This California Department of Public Health press release reaffirms California's approach to COVID-19 mitigation in k-12 schools through universal indoor masking. The department will monitor conditions through the winter.
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This news article reveals that in districts where masks were optional, schools have had to close because of large COVID-19 outbreaks.
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This article explains that several studies agree that most COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing hospitalization. The Pfizer vaccine remained 88% effective against the Delta virus variant in the UK and 87% effective in Canada.
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This news article describes the perspective of many California students on masking as the school year starts up.
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This article discourages schools from using plexiglass dividers and plastic shields in classrooms, as they do not reduce COVID-19 transmission and may actually trap aerosol particles.
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The Workgroup reviewed safety data for the vaccine and finds expanding COVID-19 vaccination to those 5 years and older will protect them against the virus and its variants.
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This article, also playable as a podcast, describes the obstacles Rhode Island faced when operating in-person instruction during the pandemic. The state department of health determined that cases within a school were usually linked to out-of-school gatherings.
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This article, also available as a 4-minute listen, explains that hot spots are now occurring where there are very low rates of vaccination, especially rural areas and small towns.
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This news article explains that 65 million pediatric doses have already been purchased to administer to children once FDA approval arrives, which is expected by early November for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
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