Key Considerations for School Administrators
School administrators should also carefully consider the following:
- COVID-19 transmission rates in the immediate community and in the communities in which students, teachers, and staff live
It is important for school administrators to work with the county to look at when they can reopen schools safely.
- approaches to cohorting that fit the needs of your school/district and community (e.g., keeping students in class pods, staggering when students return to the school facility, having the same teacher stay with the same group of students)
- consider repurposing unused or underutilized school spaces, including outdoor spaces, to increase classroom space and facilitate social distancing
- concurrently implementing multiple strategies in school to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (e.g., social distancing, masks, hand hygiene, and use of cohorting)
- best practices for your school and community to communicate, educate, and reinforce personal protective behaviors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in school and in the community
- integrating strategies to reduce COVID-19 transmission into co-curricular and extracurricular activities (e.g., limiting participation in activities where social distancing is not feasible)
- planning and preparing for when someone gets sick
- working with state and local health authorities to develop a plan to conduct contact tracing in the event of a positive case
- communicating appropriately to families about home-based symptom screening (e.g., Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
School-based health facilities may refer to CDC's Guidance for U.S. Healthcare Facilities. They may find it helpful to reference the Ten Ways Healthcare Systems Can Operate Effectively During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-2. What can school administrators do to increase classroom space and facilitate social distancing?
You forgot to answer the question!