States are shedding their COVID-19 testing requirements for unvaccinated school staff, as well as other mitigation strategies for schools, but some experts say it鈥檚 still important for schools to monitor their communities鈥� risk levels.
California and Illinois are the latest to lift their mandates. California State Public Health Officer Tom谩s Arag贸n announced this week that will no longer be required starting Sept. 17, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ended his state鈥檚 , effective Sept. 16.
The changes come a month after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 guidance for schools, which de-emphasized some common mitigation strategies, such as 鈥渢est-to-stay鈥� and quarantines.
The risk of severe illness from COVID in many individuals has been reduced, thanks to a combination of exposure, vaccinations, and boosters, but it鈥檚 not completely gone. Some epidemiologists have warned that super-contagious COVID-19 variants can still disrupt school staffing and operations, and vaccinated people are still at risk of repeated infections from the strains.
鈥淚t remains our continued goal to address the health risks of COVID-19, but current conditions of the pandemic are different from those of the last two years,鈥� said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Sameer Vohra in a press release. 鈥淭here are now many tools available for protecting our students, teachers, and the general public, including the latest updated bivalent vaccines and effective treatment options for children and adults.鈥�
Soon after the CDC announced its relaxed guidance, some states that ordered teachers to get vaccinated or undergo regular testing started lifting their mandates to align with the federal guidance. For example:
- In New Mexico, social distancing, COVID testing for staff, 鈥渢est-to-stay鈥� programs, and quarantine requirements are for schools (though local school districts could put in place their own protocols).
- Unvaccinated teachers and day-care workers in New Jersey no longer have to be regularly tested for COVID-19, after .
- In Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Sept. 8 that , which means that vaccines for education workers will no longer be required.
Now the decisions about COVID safety protocols in these states are up to local school districts. Experts who spoke to Education Week emphasized the need for districts to make decisions based on the health and safety of their own school community.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that school communities look to their local health departments to see what the guidance is, what the transmission rate is in their communities,鈥� said Linda Mendon莽a, the president of the National Association of School Nurses. 鈥淎nd then make decisions based on what would be best for the health and safety of their school community.鈥�
Megan Carmilani, the president and founder of the nonprofit Long Covid Families, said that having a multilayered approach is 鈥渋n the best interest of keeping schools open.鈥� That approach includes mask-wearing, testing, vaccinations, and even having better ventilation in schools, she said.
鈥淭he reason COVID safety measures are so important is because when you reduce spread, you reduce absenteeism and you maintain consistency in attendance. And that鈥檚 paramount for children鈥檚 education,鈥� Carmilani said.
Some experts also said that perhaps even more important than vaccination is having better ventilation in schools.
鈥淚鈥檓 a proponent of vaccination, but I鈥檒l be the first to acknowledge that the current vaccines are not blocking transmission,鈥� said Andrew Noymer, associate professor of population health and disease prevention at University of California, Irvine. 鈥淲hat I鈥檇 really like to see in school is clean air, through ventilation, and that will reduce transmission.鈥�
Carmilani agreed, saying that ventilation is 鈥渢he missing component鈥� in COVID safety measures. 鈥淥ur focus really should be on providing the best quality air for our children.鈥�
It鈥檚 also important to think about COVID鈥檚 long-term impact, Carmilani said. Education Week has previously reported that thousands of students will face long COVID and that 1 in 5 teachers said they鈥檝e experienced the emerging illness.
鈥淲e really need to start thinking about long-term effects and start minimizing the level of virus being circulated and that our kids are exposed to,鈥� Carmilani said.
