Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
School Administrators Desperately Seek Information From Government About Time Frame For Reopening Classrooms
With their doors closed, their reopening dates in flux and their promised 鈥渄istance learning鈥 offerings in doubt, the nation鈥檚 school administrators are pleading with the federal government for guidance to respond to the worsening coronavirus outbreak. More than half the states have shut down all their schools for two to six weeks, and some state leaders have begun to predict that their schools will remain closed for the remainder of the year. But so far, instructions from the federal government have been contradictory and inconclusive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first recommended hygiene. Then it advised against gatherings of more than 50 people, hours before President Trump lowered that to 10 for the next two weeks, with a vague call for home schooling where possible. (Green, 3/18)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday abruptly canceled an online briefing with school superintendents, and their association called on the agency and the White House to clarify federal guidance for schools struggling amid the coronavirus outbreak. Daniel A. Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, told POLITICO that superintendents are feeling "total confusion" with the conflicting statements issued earlier by the CDC and then on Monday from the White House. (Gaudiano, 3/17)
Closing schools to combat the spread of the coronavirus is having a sweeping impact on an annual rite of spring: the standardized tests that are dreaded by millions of students and teachers alike. Several states have canceled standardized testing for this academic year as they face school closures that could last weeks or months. The tests were scheduled to begin in early April in many states. (Vertuno, 3/19)
One man wore plastic gloves and a face mask as he pulled up in a pickup to receive school-packed meals for his children. A woman with a preschooler at her side took her boxed meals through her car window and quickly drove away. Another woman said she was grateful to hear that the district was giving out milk. She couldn鈥檛 find any the last time she went to a local market. (Blume and Xia, 3/18)
