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Schools and Childcare Programs

As families and policymakers make decisions about children returning to school, it is important to consider the full spectrum of benefits and risks of both in-person and virtual learning options. Parents are understandably concerned about the safety of their children at school during COVID-19. 

Visit CDC’s COVID-19 page on Schools and Childcare Programs to plan for the coming school year. This site includes information for school and program administrators as well as parents and caregivers.

For School and Program Administrators 

As some communities in the United States open K-12 schools, CDC offers the following considerations for ways in which schools can help protect students, teachers, administrators, and staff and slow the spread of COVID-19. This guidance is for K-12 school administrators who are preparing for students, teachers, and staff to return to school in fall 2020. School administrators are individuals who oversee the daily operations of K-12 schools and may include school district superintendents, school principals, and assistant principals. 

It is critical that all administrators:

• Engage and encourage everyone in the school and the community to practice preventive behaviors. These are the most important actions that will support schools’ safe reopening and will help them stay open.
• Implement multiple SARS-CoV-2 mitigation strategies (e.g., social distancing, cloth face coverings, hand hygiene, and use of cohorting).
• Communicate, educate, and reinforce appropriate hygiene and social distancing practices in ways that are appropriate for students, teachers, and staff.
• Integrate SARS-CoV-2 mitigation strategies into co-curricular and extracurricular activities (e.g., limiting or cancelling participation in activities where social distancing is not feasible).
• Maintain healthy environments (e.g., cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces).
• Make decisions that take into account the level of community transmission.

For Parents and Caregivers

Going back to school this fall will require schools and families to work together even more than before. Schools will be making changes to their policies and operations with several goals: supporting learning; providing important services, such as school meals, extended daycare, extracurricular activities, and social services; and limiting the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Teachers and staff can teach and encourage preventive behaviors at school. Likewise, it will be important for families to emphasize and model healthy behaviors at home and to talk to your children about changes to expect this school year. Even if your child will attend school in-person, it is important to prepare for the possibility of virtual learning if school closes or if your child becomes exposed to COVID-19 and needs to stay home.

CDC has created a checklist to help with back to school planning for school year (SY) 2020-2021. If your school uses a hybrid model, you may want to review both the in-person and virtual/at-home learning checklists.

Actions to take and points to consider

• Check in with your child each morning for signs of illness. If your child has a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher, they should not go to school.
• Make sure your child does not have a sore throat or other signs of illness, like a cough, diarrhea, severe headache, vomiting, or body aches.
• If your child has had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 (closer than 6 feet for 15 minutes or longer), they should not go to school. Follow guidance on what to do when someone has known exposure.

Many schools are offering parents and guardians a choice between in-person and virtual modes of instruction. CDC’s Decision-Making Tool for Parents and Guardians is designed to help you think through school re-entry and the choices that your child’s school is offering.

Contact Us

Email: EPIC@cdc.gov

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd
Atlanta, GA 30333

Questions?
Contact CDC-INFO
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) TTY: 888-232-6348