COVID-19-associated school closures and related efforts to sustain education and subsidized meal programs, United States, February 18–June 30, 2020

Abstract

Pre-emptive school closures are frontline community mitigation measures recommended by CDC for implementation during severe pandemics. This study describes the spatiotemporal patterns of publicly announced school closures implemented in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and assesses how public K-12 districts adjusted their methods of education delivery and provision of subsidized meals. During February 18–June 30, 2020, we used daily systematic media searches to identify publicly announced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–related school closures lasting ≥1 day in the United States (US). We also collected statewide school closure policies from state government websites. Data on distance learning and subsidized meal programs were collected from a stratified sample of 600 school districts. The first COVID-19–associated school closure occurred on February 27, 2020 in Washington state. By March 30, 2020, all but one US public school districts were closed, representing the first-ever nearly synchronous nationwide closure of public K-12 schools in the US. Approximately 100,000 public schools were closed for ≥8 weeks because of COVID-19, affecting >50 million K-12 students. Of 600 districts sampled, the vast majority offered distance learning (91.0%) and continued provision of subsidized meal programs (78.8%) during the closures. Despite the sudden and prolonged nature of COVID-19–associated school closures, schools demonstrated flexibility by implementing distance learning and alternate methods to continue subsidized meal programs.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on therapy service delivery and functioning for school-aged children with disabilities in the United States

“…2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 Indeed, in the first four months of the pandemic (March to June 2020), therapy service disruption was reported worldwide.5,7–14 These disruptions included services provided through public schools, 15 asschools in 48 US statesclosed in the US from March to June of 2020 . 13 The range of disruptions included a total lack of access to services, 11 a decrease in services, 5 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 14 a switch to a telehealth model of service provision, 16 , 17 and the need for parents to take over as primary therapy providers. 7 In addition to the substantial impact on parental and caregiver mental health 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , the lack of (or decreased) access to therapy services negatively affected the physical and mental health7,9,20,22–26 and behavior 21 , 22 , 23 of children with disabilities.…”

“…In the 18 months since its onset, the impact of therapy disruptions on children with disabilities during the pandemic’s early months have been well-documented. 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 Yet the potential links between individual or environmental factors and access to services between March and July of 2020 remain unexplored. Many individual and environmental factors may have influenced access to therapy during the pandemic’s early months, including age, disability severity, therapeutic goals, availability of technological devices, 29 and whether therapy services were previously received through school or outside of school.…”

Causes, characteristics, and patterns of prolonged unplanned school closures prior to the COVID-19 pandemic – United States, 2011 – 2019

“…Given the results of this study which documented that prolonged school closures occur annually even outside of a global pandemic, and given the experience of the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic [22], it appears that there is already a solid investment case for creating sustainable solutions for high quality digital learning and innovative supplemental feeding programs nationwide before next disaster strikes, with particular attention and urgency for disaster-prone areas and socio-economically vulnerable communities.…”

“…In summary, our study demonstrated that while only 2% of all unplanned school closures during the 8year study period were categorized as prolonged, (lasting ≥5 days), such closures occur annually due to a variety of causes and have major impacts on schools, students, teachers, and families. The establishment of a publicly available reporting system for school closures at the state or national level could lead to a better understanding of the magnitude and duration of PUSCs, both during the inter-pandemic period like the one on which we reported here (2011-2019) and during the major public health emergencies like severe influenza outbreaks [17] or during the respiratory infectious disease pandemics [6,22,31]. Further studies are needed to elucidate the economic and social consequences of PUSCs, both those occurring outside of a pandemic and those which are pandemic-related, particularly for those populations that are disproportionately affected, and inform preparedness guidelines for future occurrences of prolonged unplanned school closures.…”

“…The costs and consequences of PUSC are topics of intense contemporary research interest, especially in view of COVID-19-related school closures, as well as subsequent modifications of instruction delivery methods and implementation of alternate methods to continue subsidized school meal programs [22]. This study illustrates that even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, anywhere from several hundred to several thousand schools were closed for a prolonged period (one entire school week or longer) each year.…”