High school student temperature scan

EPIC IN THE NEWS

Do schools spread COVID? It may depend on how bad things already are around them

DATE:  January 4, 2021

Opening school buildings doesn’t increase the spread of COVID-19 in places where cases or hospitalizations from the virus are rare, according to two new studies.

Reopening schools in areas with higher caseloads, though, does spread the virus, one found, while the other couldn’t rule out that possibility. It remains unclear exactly at what point school reopening becomes more risky.

The papers are the most rigorous efforts yet to understand the link between schools and COVID spread in the U.S. It’s research that could guide school officials and health officials grappling with whether to reopen or keep open school buildings. But there aren’t simple answers for places with higher numbers, at a moment when some counties are seeing COVID cases peak.

Read the full news article here.

EPIC works with state and district partners to create a targeted research agenda to learn which reform strategies are most effective, where, when and for whom.

Most images of students and teachers on site are courtesy of Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for American Education: Images of Teachers and Students in Action

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