COVID-19 K-12 School Opening and Closing Policies - Summary of Established State Thresholds - November 2020

Oct 15, 2026

COVID-19 K-12 school opening and closing policies summarize how states use disease transmission indicators to guide full, partial, or remote learning decisions. It explains that governors rely on community spread data plus school risk-mitigation capacity such as masking, distancing, contract tracing, and infrastructure changes. Using a late-September to early-October review, the resource compares state threshold measures, highlights evolving guidance since the 2020-2021 school year began, and notes additional tools tracking school COVID-19 status and response.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

State data dashboards and threshold-based decision-making

States with specific data thresholds

Distance learning, hybrid learning, and in-person learning definitions

COVID-19 K-12 SCHOOL OPENING AND CLOSING POLICIES: Summary of Established State Thresholds NOVEMBER 2020 INTRODUCTION As the country continues also minimizing the risk to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring high-quality K-12 education while that students, teachers, and staff become infected with the coronavirus is a top priority for governors. A variety of factors go into state and local decision-making regarding the opening of school buildings for in-person learning, including an understanding of the status of disease transmission in the community as well as schools’ability to implement risk mitigation strategies such as mask wearing, social/ physical distancing, contract tracing, and modifications to the school infrastructure. Every state in the nation has developed COVID-19 data dashboards to share the latest information on disease transmission. Data at county or lower levels of geography are particularly important to understanding community spread and to inform school and school district decisions regarding in-person or traditional learning, hybrid learning, or distance or online learning options.1 A frequently updated scan of state COVID-19 public data dashboards by State Health and Value Strategies (SHVS) shows that all states are compiling and updating data at county or lower levels of geography for key indicators such as cases and deaths.2 On behalf of the National Governors Association (NGA), and with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) has developed this resource, which highlights states that have released data thresholds, sometimes referred to as gating criteria or benchmarks, to guide schools, school districts, and other stakeholders in decisions on full or partial school reopening. The resource outlines common measures upon which thresholds are based and explores how measure definitions and thresholds compare across states, provides examples of how guidance has evolved since the 2020-2021 school year began, and includes information on other resources tracking school COVID-19 status and response. The information presented in this resource draws from SHADAC’s review of publicly available information on state websites in late September and early October. States frequently re-assess and revise policy and many states released guidance over the summer months in anticipation of the 2020-2021 school year, which predated the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These factors suggest adaptations of these policies are likely over time. States with Data Thresholds for K-12 School Opening and Closing Twenty-two states have released school reopening guidance with specific metrics and thresholds to support local decision making on the opening and closing of schools for in-person learning (see box for school reopening key definitions). While most state guidance around school opening and closing thresholds serves as a recommendation to schools and school districts, there are nine states where it appears data thresholds are state requirements. In West Virginia, for instance, the state posts a weekly metric map (on Saturdays) with countylevel data on cases per 100,000 population as well as on positivity rates. If case rates are greater than 15 cases per 100,000 people and positivity percentages are greater than 5 percent, in-person instruction in that county is suspended for one week.3 Iowa’s requirement is unique in that all K-12 public schools must provide in-person learning, but ifa county’s testing positivity rate exceeds 15 percent, a district can apply for a waiver to provide remote learning options. (Approvals in Iowa are granted in two-week intervals.)4 In addition to states with specific numeric thresholds, there are 10 states that have released guidance encouraging schools to consider their local communities’COVID-19 risk levels based on various measures, but did not specifically tie

FAQs

What information do governors use to decide K-12 school building openings for in-person learning?

Decisions consider community transmission status and the ability to implement risk mitigation strategies such as mask wearing, social/physical distancing, contract tracing, and modifications to school infrastructure.

How do county-level data dashboards support school and district learning options?

County or lower-level indicators help inform whether communities move toward in-person, hybrid, or distance/online learning, based on frequently updated public dashboards.

What are the key learning modality definitions used in the resource?

Distance learning separates students and teachers and relies on media or technology; hybrid learning combines distance and traditional in-person instruction; in-person learning keeps students, teachers, and staff together on campus.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Alex Sinclair