What Parents Need to Know about Covid-19 in Schools

Early on in the pandemic, it made sense to close schools. But as some school buildings reopened for in-person learning while others remained closed for much longer, we’ve seen more and more evidence that Covid-19 has not spread uncontrollably in schools. Instead, case levels in schools tend to mirror those in the larger community: when there’s more Covid out there, there will be more cases in schools, but schools themselves aren’t generally fueling the spread.

A recent study in Pediatrics looked at how masking policies affect in-school transmission, while taking variables like vaccination rates, levels of community spread, and district size into account, too. They found that districts with mask mandates saw lower rates of secondary infections in schools: Schools with optional masking policies had more than 3 times as many instances of in-school spread as those with mandatory masking. (Related to the point above, though, the study also found that in all districts, transmission in schools was quite low; it was just even lower in schools with required masks.)

Covid-19 vaccines are now available to everyone, including infants and children over 6 months old. While children remain at generally low risk of severe illness from the virus, children can and do still get very sick sometimes—and vaccination does a great job of minimizing those risks. (Plus, some schools and extracurricular providers require proof of vaccination for children.)

Even as masks are becoming less consistent in schools, parents should feel reassured that other efforts to limit Covid spread—like using rapid tests and improving ventilation and air filtration also help keep the virus under control in schools. (Experts point out that buildings should use real HEPA filters or those with a high filtration rating, called MERV-13 or higher; otherwise they might not do much good.)

While school closures haven’t had a major impact on keeping Covid rates down, they have had a major impact on students. And not in a good way. In Massachusetts, 37,000 more children scored in the lowest achievement level for math, compared to 2019. Students have fallen dramatically behind in reading, particularly Black and Latino students (whose schools were more likely to be closed than white students’) and English language learners. In many cases, students with disabilities lost access to supports they were legally entitled to, and many parents have seen declines in their children’s progress. And we’ve seen higher levels of depression and anxiety among young people, too.