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U.S. News & World Report
Study of Rural Schools Suggests Class Can Continue Even Where Coronavirus Infection Rates Are High
The first report to look exclusively at rural schools offers some
evidence that in-person school is possible with community coronavirus
transmission rates as high as 40%.
By Lauren Camera, Senior Education Writer
Jan. 26, 2021
BY REQUIRING MASKS AND grouping students into small cohorts, rural
schools may be able to maintain a low risk of coronavirus transmission
– even when community infection rates are high, new data from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests.
The report, published Tuesday, is the first to look exclusively at
rural schools, and, though limited in scope, it offers some evidence
that in certain instances in-person school is possible with community
transmission rates as high as 40%.
"These findings suggest that, with proper mitigation strategies, K-12
schools might be capable of opening for in-person learning with minimal
in-school transmission of SARS-CoV-2," the researchers concluded, using
the full name for the coronavirus.
The researchers looked at compliance with the mandatory mask policy and
the impact of grouping students into small cohorts to minimize the risk
of transmission among nearly 5,000 students and 650 staff in 17 rural
schools in Wood County, Wisconsin, where more than 85% of students were
learning in person. They compared school-attributable COVID-19 rates
with rates in the surrounding community, concluding that in-person
school did not drive transmission of the coronavirus.
Among the 191 cases identified in students and staff members, 1 in 20
cases among students was linked to in-school transmission, and no
infections among staff members were found to have been acquired at
school. Only seven cases were associated with in-school transmission,
all in students.
Notably, widespread community transmission was observed during the
August 2020 to November 2020 study period, with 7% to 40% of COVID-19
tests having positive results. Despite the high rates of community
transmission, the incidence of COVID-19 in schools open for in-person
instruction was 37% lower than that in the surrounding community.
The findings counter conclusions from other studies that say reopening
school for in-person learning doesn't increase positivity rates, but
only if the community's infections rates are low to begin with – a
monster condition given that infection rates and hospitalization rates
are spiking around the country and that many school districts lack the
necessary resources to provide masks to staff and students, establish
sanitization stations, reconfigure classrooms for social distancing and
establish rigorous testing and contact tracing systems.
Nearly 10 months after schools across the country shuttered amid the
coronavirus pandemic, researchers are finally amassing enough data to
draw more informed conclusions about whether and how the virus spreads
in schools, whether schools are significant drivers of infection rates
and what conditions may allow for schools to safely and successfully
reopen for in-person learning.
That data has been difficult to come by due to a lack of federal
guidance for how states, counties and school districts track COVID-19
cases. That has led to a patchwork of reporting requirements – some of
which are made public, others not – that have stymied efforts to draw
any conclusions to help school officials to make complicated and
contentious decisions about reopening and closing schools.
A series of recent analyses suggested that as long as infection rates
are under control, in-person school – whether it's through a hybrid
model or fully in-person – does not contribute to community spread.
This new data from the CDC is among the earliest to suggest that in
some cases, even when community transmission is high, in-person school
might not contribute to or mirror that. It comes at a time when the
Biden administration is charging hard to reopen the majority of K-8
schools.
To be sure, the results are not necessarily applicable to the rest of
the country. For example, rural schools differ in significant ways from
those in more densely populated areas, and physical distancing might be
easier in rural schools than in suburban or urban schools – to name
just one important caveat.
In addition, the racial and ethnic makeup of this specific rural
population was predominantly white, and, therefore, the results might
not be generalizable to other rural or nonrural school districts –
especially those that serve lots of Black and Latino students, whose
families have been hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
The schools that participated in the study employed a number of
infection mitigation measures, and all schools were under district and
statewide mask mandates. Students and staff were given up to five two-
to three-layer cloth masks, which they were asked to wear when within 6
feet of another person outdoors and at all times indoors.
In addition, the schools established classroom cohorts of 11 to 20
students in each grade level to avoid mixing with too many other
students. All classes and lunch periods were held indoors, and schools
tried to seat students near the same person within their cohort.
The school did not conduct coronavirus screening, but if a student was
experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, the student and their siblings were
excluded from school.
"These findings suggest that attending school where recommended
mitigation strategies are implemented might not place children in a
higher risk environment than exists in the community," the researchers
concluded. "Having children in a monitored school setting might
increase adherence to mask compliance, and cohorting can help minimize
exposures for children and adults."
Read this and other stories at US News
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