. See, too, the Return to School Roadmap guide for K-12 schools and communities for the 2021-2022 school year.
Back to School Toolkit: Provides resources for school district leaders, teachers, parent leaders, and school supporters who want to help increase confidence in and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in their school communities, answer questions, and outline school guidance about COVID-19. This federally produced toolkit includes information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and new, tailored materials from the US Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] COVID-19 Public Education Campaign.
Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse: Provides resources for communities, schools, educators, and families working together to continue to reopen U.S. schools for in-person learning while supporting the needs of all students, particularly historically underserved students and those who have been impacted greatest by the pandemic. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona introduced this new clearinghouse on 4/30/21, explaining “Our role at the Department is to provide guidance and directions on how to (safely reopen all schools for in-person learning, beginning with children in grades K-8), safely and equitably.”
Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools (01/06/22): Updates CDC guidance for K-12 schools based on CDC’s updates to Quarantine and Isolation Guidance for the general public as the course of the pandemic continues to evolve. Key takeaways from these updates include:
- Students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction continues to be a priority.
- Vaccination is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports.
- CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all* students (ages 2 years and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
- New CDC guidance has reduced the recommended time for isolation and quarantine periods to five days.
CDC has also prepared this new overview of COVID-19 quarantine for K-12 schools.
Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People: Updates (07-27-21) official CDC guidance for fully vaccinated people given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant currently circulating in the United States. Within this update, CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status!
Returning to School: Mitigation and Mental Health Strategies: Provides the presenters’ slide deck, including hyperlinked primary references, for January 2021’s national presentation by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] on how to optimize mitigation strategies and mental health support to facilitate students’ safe return to school in the new year. Co-hosted by ED’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools [OSSS] and the National Center for Safe and Supportive Learning Environments [NCSSLE], this webinar presented user-friendly tools for schools to inform their selection and implementation of COVID-19 mitigation strategies; and information about how to support and promote mental health for K-12 students and school staff, both in-person and virtually.
Updated (04/27/21) Healthcare Infection Prevention Control Recommendations in Response to COVID-19 Vaccination: Provides practical approaches that can be used to protect health care personnel, patients and communities. This input from the CDC can serve as a useful reference for school nurse, counseling and other professional staff who interact in close physical proximity with students to optimize safety and minimize risks of viral transmission. A concise one-sheet brief version is also provided for efficient dissemination.
Guidance for Returning to Work: Guides employers and workers in safely returning to work and reopening businesses during the evolving Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Employers 