In headlines across the nation, back-to-school stories are painting a grim portrait of the coming school year.
The Delta surge sent COVID case rates soaring to record levels in ten states. Pediatric hospitalization rates increased nearly fivefold in the span of seven weeks, reaching all-time highs at the beginning of September. Meanwhile, the proportion of case rates among school-aged-children continues to skyrocket. Debates over school mitigation practices, especially mask and vaccine mandates, rage on. Hundreds of thousands of students have faced quarantines in the first few weeks of school as stories of dreaded school closures appear to be mounting. Teachers, administrators, parents and students may naturally fear that the third pandemic school year looks to be just as chaotic and disrupted as the last.
However, there is plenty of reason for hope. I spent last year tracking school district closures across the country, and three key changes in how schools are responding this year are building the foundations for a dramatically different, and better school year.
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