• Track the status of reopening in all 50 states.
• Compare the status of one industry or activity across the country.
• Answer key questions about state school reopening plans.
• Give you the latest stories on other reopening plans and ideas.

Want to know what happened yesterday? Click here.

Since our last edition

What is open in each state? For a continually updated article on reopening status in all 50 states, click here. For our last edition, click here.

• Kansas (divided government): The Kansas Department of Education released updated recommendations for returning to in-person education. The document breaks the recommendations into color levels—green, yellow, orange, and red—based on criteria such as the number of students missing school, number of new cases, and local hospital capacity. There are separate recommendations for Pre-K through grade 5 and grades 6 through 12 at the yellow and orange levels.

• Nevada (divided government): Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed legislation limiting the civil liability of most businesses in the state. To qualify for protection, businesses must adhere to government-imposed health and safety standards. The bill does not limit liabilities for schools, hospitals, and other health services.

• New Hampshire (divided government): Gov. Chris Sununu (R) issued an executive order requiring masks at any scheduled event with more than 100 people. Sununu said that the Sturgis motorcycle rally prompted him to issue the order with Laconia Motorcycle Week less than two weeks away.

• New Jersey (Democratic trifecta): Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an executive order on Aug. 12 allowing public and private K-12 schools, colleges, and universities to offer in-person instruction when they reopen. Schools will decide whether to offer remote learning, in-person instruction, or a hybrid approach. Schools that cannot meet requirements set out by the New Jersey Department of Education will be required to begin the school year remotely.

• Oregon (Democratic trifecta): The Oregon Department of Education released updated school reopening guidelines on Aug. 11 that allow schools to reopen to in-person instruction if the school has 250 students or fewer, is in a county with fewer than 30,000 residents, and if the county has reported no more than 30 COVID-19 cases in the past three weeks.

• Rhode Island (Democratic trifecta): Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) announced on Aug. 12 she was delaying the start of the school year until Sept. 14. She previously said she wanted schools to reopen at the end of August.

• Tennessee (Republican trifecta): Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn said on Aug. 12 that the Tennessee Department of Education was encouraging school districts to mandate face coverings for middle and high school students.

• Wyoming (Republican trifecta): On Aug. 12, Gov. Mark Gordon (R) issued a revised public health order that extends restrictions on restaurants, bars, gyms, and performance spaces through the end of the month and eases restrictions on outdoor gatherings beginning Aug. 16. The new restrictions on gatherings will allow venues to accommodate up to 50% capacity, with a maximum of 1,000 people so long as social distancing is observed.

Tracking industries: Restaurants

All 50 states are reopening in some way. Here, we give the status of one industry or activity across the states. Today’s question: in which states may you dine in at a restaurant?

We last looked at restaurants in the August 5th edition of the newsletter. Since then, no states have opened or closed dine-in services. On Aug. 10, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said it was still too risky to allow indoor dining across the state, citing a study on the spread of the virus in a restaurant in China.

This is an in-depth summary of two state plans to reopen public K-12 schools for the 2020-2021 school year.

North Carolina’s Lighting Our Way Forward

On June 11, 2020, the State Board of Education approved the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s, plan for school re-opening, Lighting Our Way Forward.

On July 14, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced that schools must operate under either a hybrid or fully-online plan. Districts are required to offer online-only instruction for students who are at high risk or who choose not to return to in-person instruction. In his announcement, Cooper said, “There are no decisions more important than the ones about our children and our schools. This announcement today is the result of careful, collaborative, and painstaking work. There is much risk in not going back to in-person school. We know that schools provide so much more than just academic lessons.”

Public schools operating on a traditional schedule will begin instruction on August 17. According to EdWeek, public schools in North Carolina traditionally start the year in late August.

Cooper closed public schools in the state for two weeks on March 14. On March 23, he extended the closure through May 15. On April 24, he announced that public schools were closed for the remainder of the school year.

Context

North Carolina has a divided government. The governor is a Democrat, and Republicans have majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state has had a divided government since 2017.

The following tables show public education statistics in North Carolina, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Details

District reopening plans

School districts are required to develop their own reopening plans that comply with the requirements outlined in the state’s guidance document. Those plans are:

Individual districts may choose to open under Plan B, which has some in-person instruction, or Plan C, which is entirely virtual. All districts are required to offer a fully virtual option. Schools may choose between Plan B or Plan C at any time.

In-person, hybrid, and online learning

Districts that choose a hybrid model are required to limit capacity to a level that will allow students and staff to adhere to a six-foot social distance. The state’s reopening guidelines suggest that scheduling for hybrid learning should be determined by individual school districts. The guidelines offer suggestions for alternating days, alternating weeks, or blending which grade levels would attend in person and which would attend virtually.

Mask requirements

All students, teachers, and staff are required to wear masks or face coverings.

In-person health recommendations and requirements

On June 8, 2020, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released the StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit, a series of guidelines for in-person public education. When learning is done in-person, the following precautions are required, according to EducationNC:

Schools must conduct regular screenings for COVID-19 symptoms and isolate individuals who show symptoms. Staff and students must stay home if they test positive for COVID-19, show symptoms, or have come in close contact with a person who has COVID-19. The guidelines provide criteria to return for three scenarios:

• People diagnosed with COVID-19 but without symptoms must stay home for 10 days after the diagnosis, assuming no symptoms arise.
• People diagnosed based on symptoms are not required to show a negative test to return to school. A person can return to school if they receive confirmation of an alternative diagnosis from a health care provider that would explain the COVID-19-like symptom(s), or once there is no fever without the use of fever-reducing medicines and they have felt well for 24 hours.
• People who have been in close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 must remain out of school for 14 days, even if they do not test positive for the virus.

Schools are required to ensure that six feet of distance is possible and marked out for students and staff during times where students and staff are more likely to come in contact, such as at lunch or during recess. Capacity for common areas is limited to the number that would allow for six-foot social distancing.

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions

The state’s face mask requirement for students and staff also applies to transportation. Buses are limited to one student per seat. Screening for symptoms, including temperature checks, may be conducted prior to boarding transportation.

Responses

After Cooper announced that districts would have the option for reopening under Plan B or Plan C, North Carolina Association of Educators President Tamika Walker Kelly said, said:

North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) criticized Cooper’s decision to limit district choices to Plans B and C. In a statement, Berger said:

North Dakota’s K-12 Smart Restart

The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction released its school reopening guidance, titled K-12 Smart Restart, on July 14. Gov. Doug Burgum (R) said, “North Dakota’s children are looking to us as adults to help them adjust to life with COVID-19. They will be watching us and looking to us for answers, guidance and security. Today’s guidance is the next step in that journey. We are committed to supporting and partnering with our schools and families to provide a safe, high-quality education experience for all students.”

State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said, “School boards and administrators will be making difficult decisions to ensure the health and well-being of their communities and limit the spread of COVID-19 while fulfilling their overall mission of educating students. They are in the best position to make the dozens and dozens of judgment calls that will be necessary every day and changing as the days go on.”

North Dakota does not have a statewide date for public schools to reopen. According to EdWeek, public schools in North Dakota traditionally start the academic year in late August to early September, with the exact start date varying by district.

On March 15, Gov. Burgum closed schools for one week, effective March 16. On March 19, Burgum extended the closure indefinitely. The governor closed schools for the rest of the academic year on May 1. On May 11, he announced schools could reopen starting on June 1 for summer programs, though they were not required to.

Context

North Dakota has a Republican trifecta. The governor is a Republican, and Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state became a Republican trifecta in 1995.

The following tables show public education statistics in North Dakota, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Details

District reopening plans

Each school district is responsible for developing Health and Safety plans regarding in-person instruction, which district school boards must approve in consultation with local public health units. Each school is also required to have a board-approved Distance Learning Plan, along with a hybrid plan. Schools are required to post the plans on a publicly accessible website.

In-person, hybrid, and online learning

The state’s reopening guide sets forth a color-coded phased approach to returning students to classrooms. The levels—Red (critical risk), Orange (high risk), Yellow (moderate risk), Green (low risk), and Blue (new normal)—are “based on criteria such as the number of cases reported, positivity rates, testing capacity, hospital capacity, occurrence of point-source outbreaks, level of community spread, vulnerable populations affected and ability to protect, the availability of personal protection equipment (PPE), etc.”

Schools in the Red or Orange Phase should remain closed, with all instruction provided remotely. Schools in the Yellow Phase can resume in-person instruction if they have a Health and Safety Plan approved by the district’s school board. In the Yellow Phase, guidance states that plans should emphasize facial coverings, personal hygiene, and social distancing. In the Green Phase, the guidance says that “some physical distancing measures and limitations on gatherings will still be recommended to prevent transmission from accelerating again.” For schools in the Blue Phase, “most normal activity can resume, with standard precautions and awareness of health guidelines such as routine hand washing, stay home when sick, cover your cough, education, stockpiling, planning, routine health alerts, etc.”

As long as school plans have been approved, details of each model of learning can vary widely from school to school based on local conditions.

Mask requirements

For schools in the Yellow Phase, guidelines state, “Facial coverings (masks or face shields) should be worn by staff and students when social distancing is not possible.” For those in the Green Phase or Blue Phase, schools are instructed to develop “Guidelines for when facial coverings should be worn by staff and students when social distancing is not possible.”

In-person health recommendations and requirements

State guidelines instruct schools to develop their Health and Safety Plans based on documents released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, North Dakota Department of Health, and local public health units. Plans must include the following:

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions

The guidelines do not specify requirements or restrictions regarding transportation and busing, aside from instructing schools to develop “Protocols for adjusting space occupancy on buses that allow for separation among students to the maximum extent feasible.”

Responses

Nick Archuleta, President of ND United, the state’s largest teacher’s union, responded to the state’s guidelines: “As expected, the responsibility for the creation of reopening plans and protocols rests with the local school districts, as it should. To that end, I am imploring local school boards and administrators to be as inclusive as possible as they undertake this important planning. If we are to instill confidence in the minds of parents, students, professional educators, and education support professionals, it is imperative that they have a seat at the table and that their views are seriously considered.”

Additional activity

In this section, we feature examples of other federal, state, and local government activity, as well as influencers relevant to recovering from the pandemic.

• On Aug. 2, a lawsuit seeking to stop Manatee County’s mask mandate was filed in Florida’s Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court. The lawsuit, one of fourteen filed by attorney and Florida State Representative Anthony Sabatini (R) on behalf of plaintiffs across the state, challenges the constitutionality of Manatee County’s Resolution No. R-20-116. The July 27 resolution requires individuals to wear face coverings while inside public businesses. In his complaint, the plaintiff, a Manatee County resident and pastor of a local Baptist church, argues that the mask mandate violates his religious freedom and “should not apply within churches, synagogues and other houses of worship because it interferes with the ability to pray.” The plaintiff also alleges that the mask mandate violates guarantees of privacy and due process under the Florida Constitution, arguing it is impermissibly vague and overbroad, could lead to public disclosure of private medical information, and is an arbitrary and unreasonable deprivation of liberty. Sabatini has filed similar lawsuits against Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Seminole, Orange, Leon, Pinellas, Collier, and Hillsborough counties, as well as the cities of St. Augustine, Key West, DeLand, and Jacksonville. Manatee County officials have not made any public statements concerning the pending suit.

• Track the status of reopening in all 50 states.
• Compare the status of one industry or activity across the country.
• Answer key questions about state school reopening plans.
• Give you the latest stories on other reopening plans and ideas.

Want to know what happened yesterday? Click here.

We’ll complete our summaries of all 50 state public school reopening plans on Aug. 17. What do you think we should cover next? What topics do you want more information about—or less? Or do you think there’s something we should look at once again? We want to know what you think! Simply reply to this email with your suggestions and comments. We look forward to hearing from you!

Since our last edition

What is open in each state? For a continually updated article on reopening status in all 50 states, click here. For our last edition, click here.

• Arizona (Republican trifecta): Gov. Doug Ducey (R) released guidelines from the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) for reopening businesses that are currently not allowed to reopen. The guidelines apply to gyms, theaters, water parks, tubing, bars, and nightclubs. The guidelines use a red, yellow, and green benchmark system based on county coronavirus figures. The ADHS recommended that current restrictions be kept in place for now, but provided the guidelines to help businesses and industry decide when to reopen once the state rescinds its restrictions.

• Kentucky (divided government): Gov. Andy Beshear (D) requested that school districts not offer in-person instruction until at least Sept. 28, and instead begin the school year with virtual learning.

• Massachusetts (divided government): Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said schools in 285 of the state’s 318 communities should be able to reopen for at least some in-person instruction in the fall. Baker said he felt confident in reopening schools based on coronavirus statistics in those communities.

• New Jersey (Democratic trifecta): At a news conference on Monday, Aug. 10, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said it was still too risky to allow indoor dining across the state, citing a study that looked at the spread of the virus in a restaurant in China.

• Washington (Democratic trifecta): On Aug. 10, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) released updated guidance for religious and faith-based organizations. In counties in Phase 1 of reopening, organizations can hold outdoor services with up to 100 people. In counties in Phase 2, up to 200 people can gather for outdoor services, and up to 200 people or 25% of the room’s capacity (whichever is less) can gather indoors. In counties in Phase 3, indoor services can accommodate up to 50 percent of the room’s capacity or 400 people, while up to 400 people can gather for outdoor services.

• Connecticut, New Jersey, New York (Democratic trifectas): Govs. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.), Phil Murphy (D-N.J.), and Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) announced that Hawaii, South Dakota, and the Virgin Islands had been added to the tristate quarantine list. The governors removed Alaska, New Mexico, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

Tracking industries: Indoor gathering limits

All 50 states are reopening in some way. Here, we give the status of one industry or activity across the states. Today’s question: what is the indoor gathering size limit in each state?

We last looked at indoor gathering size limits in the August 4th edition of the newsletter. Since then, South Carolina instituted an indoor gathering size limit of 250 individuals.

This is an in-depth summary of two state plans to reopen public K-12 schools for the 2020-2021 school year.

New Jersey’s The Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education

On June 26, Governor Phil Murphy and Department of Education Commissioner Lamont O. Repollet released The Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education, the state’s guidelines for reopening public schools for in-person instruction in the fall.

Commissioner Repollet said, “New Jersey educators and families did an amazing job over the past three months implementing remote learning, even with relatively little time for planning. That effort was nothing short of heroic. However, too many parents feel that remote-only instruction isn’t working for their child, and too many children are falling behind. It is becoming abundantly clear that children need to return to a school environment in some capacity, and we need to do so safely. This is a matter of educational growth, and it’s a matter of equity.”

In July, Murphy issued additional guidelines, clarifying that each district was required to offer remote-only options for instruction and that each district would be responsible for designing and implementing its plan for remote learning.

Several teachers’ unions in the state, including those in Paterson and Essex County, have called for public school openings to be delayed for in-person instruction. The New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association has also called for statewide remote instruction to start the school year.

There is no statewide date for schools to begin instruction in New Jersey; each district sets its own specific start date. According to Ed Week, public schools in New Jersey typically start the academic year in late August to early September, with specific dates varying by district.

Schools in New Jersey were closed for in-person instruction on March 18, 2020, and remained closed for the remainder of the year.

Context

New Jersey is a Democratic trifecta. The governor is a Democrat, and Democrats have majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state became a Democratic trifecta in 2018.

The following tables show public education statistics in New Jersey, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Details

District reopening plans

Districts are required to develop and submit their own specific plans that meet or exceed the state’s reopening guidelines. Districts are encouraged to share their reopening plans with the public at least four weeks before the beginning of the school year.

In-person, hybrid, and online learning

New Jersey’s reopening guidelines specify that districts must account for resuming in-person instruction in their reopening plans. The guidance Murphy issued in July specified that each district should also offer students an option for fully remote instruction. Each district determines its schedules. The state’s reopening guidelines offer some models for in-person, hybrid, and online learning:

Systems which support in-person, fully virtual and hybrid learning should serve as the foundation for the development of a strategic plan for delivering instruction to students in alignment with the following core guiding principles:

Mask requirements

Educators, staff members, and visitors will be required to wear a mask or face covering throughout the day unless they are unable due to a health reason. Students are required to wear a face covering when they cannot maintain six feet of distance and are encouraged to wear masks throughout the day.

In-person health recommendations and requirements

Schools are expected to offer the maximum amount of social distance possible, with the recommendation that students are placed at least six feet apart in classrooms. Where this is not possible, the guidelines recommend physical barriers. Each district is also required to adopt a disinfecting policy, place directional markers in high-traffic areas, and adopt a policy for screening students and employees for symptoms and exposure history.

School districts must adopt a policy for screening students and employees upon arrival for symptoms and history of exposure. Policies must include the following:

Districts are also required to develop protocols for positive tests or contact with those who have tested positive for COVID-19. These protocols must include isolation of the individual, notification of local health officials, and contact tracing.

Students can still eat lunch in the cafeteria, but social distancing is still expected and lunch times should be staggered to allow for minimal student contact. Recess and gym are also permitted with size limits. Indoor school sports are not permitted, but outdoor school sports are allowed.

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions

School buses are recommended to maintain a six-foot social distance between students. If six feet of social distance is not possible on transportation, students are required to wear face coverings. The guidelines also recommend having students fill in the back rows of the bus first and progress forward. Students exit the bus in the opposite fashion to limit physical interaction among students.

Bus drivers are required to wear face coverings and follow sanitizing protocols in line with other staff members.

Responses

In July, The Essex County Education Association, which represents 12,000 teachers in one of the largest districts in the state, called for schools to open with fully remote instruction. The group’s president, Anthony Rosamilia said:

The Garden State Coalition of Schools, a nonpartisan education advocacy group, applauded the state’s reopening guidelines, saying:

New York’s Recovering, Rebuilding, and Renewing

The New York State Education Department released its school reopening guidance on July 13. Interim Commissioner Shannon Tahoe said, “The guidance encourages community involvement and allows for flexibility so that districts and schools in every corner of the state can assess their unique situation and develop a plan that best meets the needs of their students.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said, “It’s purely on the numbers, purely on the science.”

At that time it was unclear if all schools would be allowed to reopen. Gov. Cuomo held a press conference on Aug. 7, where he announced all school districts in the state were authorized to open, as long as the rate of positive tests in the district remained below 5 percent. The decisions about in-person learning were left to each district.

New York does not have a statewide date for public schools to reopen. Each district is required to hold three online discussions with parents regarding their plans by August 21. According to EdWeek, public schools in New York traditionally start the academic year in late August to early September.

On March 16, Gov. Cuomo closed schools for two weeks beginning March 18. On March 27, Cuomo extended the closure through April 15. He extended it again on April 6 to go through April 29, and on April 16 to go through May 15. The governor closed schools for the rest of the academic year on May 1.

Context

New York is a  Democratic trifecta. The governor is a Democrat, and Democrats have majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state became a Democratic trifecta in 2019.

The following tables show public education statistics in New York, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Details

District reopening plans

Each school district had until July 31 to submit plans to the New York State Department of Health for three different learning models–all in-person, all remote, and a hybrid of the two. Each plan had to detail how districts would meet state requirements for each model. The plans are required to be made publicly available online.

In-person, hybrid, and online learning

The decision to reopen schools for in-person learning has been left up to individual districts, and each district has been required to post online plans regarding testing, contact tracing, and remote learning. Cuomo is also requiring districts to host information sessions with parents and the community to discuss their plans.

Mask requirements

Schools are required to provide face coverings to employees, and to have them available to students if they forget their own. Everyone in a school and on school grounds is required to wear cloth face coverings in the following situations:

In-person health recommendations and requirements

For reopening to in-person instruction, the state provides detailed recommendations on health checks, hygiene practices, social distancing, PPE and face coverings, managing ill persons, and cleaning and disinfecting.

Additionally, schools are required to meet a large number of conditions to reopen, including:

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions

Requirements and considerations for transportation and busing include:

Additional activity

In this section, we feature examples of other federal, state, and local government activity, as well as influencers relevant to recovering from the pandemic.

• The Big Ten and PAC-12 conferences became the first Power Five conferences to postpone their football seasons. The presidents of the Big Ten’s 14 member institutions voted to delay the season until Spring 2021. PAC 12 presidents voted to suspend all football activity until January 2021, when they will reevaluate their decision to see if the sport can be played in the spring.
• On Aug. 7, Juneau Superior Court Judge Phillip M. Pallenberg dismissed a lawsuit alleging that state appropriation of federal funds received under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act violated the Alaska Constitution. In his complaint, Juneau resident Eric Forrer argued that the use of a legislative committee, instead of the full state legislature, to approve appropriation of the federal aid violated Article IX, Section 13, of the Alaska Constitution. In response to the lawsuit, the Alaska Legislature convened in late May and ratified the actions of the legislative committee. Following that ratification, Pallenberg declined to stop the legislature’s activity pending his final decision on the merits, ruling in July that there are no “special procedural requirements for appropriations bills in the Alaska Constitution.” Pallenberg added that, given the “rapidly evolving circumstances of a public health emergency,” ratification of the legislative committee’s actions was likely constitutional. Following oral arguments, Pallenberg ruled in favor of the state and dismissed the case. Forrer’s attorney said that an appeal may be filed.

• Track the status of reopening in all 50 states.
• Compare the status of one industry or activity across the country.
• Answer key questions about state school reopening plans.
• Give you the latest stories on other reopening plans and ideas.

Want to know what happened Friday? Click here.

We’ll complete our summaries of all 50 state public school reopening plans on Aug. 17. What do you think we should cover next? What topics do you want more information about—or less? Or do you think there’s something we should look at once again? We want to know what you think! Simply reply to this email with your suggestions and comments. We look forward to hearing from you!

The next 24 hours

What is changing in the next 24 hours?

• Hawaii (Democratic trifecta): Inter-island travel restrictions will take effect. Gov. David Ige (D) announced the restrictions on Aug 6. Individuals traveling to the counties of Kaua’i, Hawai’i, Maui, and Kalawao must self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

Since our last edition

What is open in each state? For a continually updated article on reopening status in all 50 states, click here. For our last edition, click here.

• California (Democratic trifecta): On Aug. 7, the state released reopening guidance for colleges and universities. The guidance requires students and staff to wear masks in all indoor public spaces. In counties on the state’s monitoring list, only courses like labs and studio arts will be allowed to take place in-person.

• Hawaii (Democratic trifecta): On Aug. 7, Gov. David Ige (D) announced that public schools would begin the school year with four weeks of online learning. The school year is scheduled to begin Aug. 17.

• Maryland (divided government): On Aug. 7, Montgomery County rescinded its ban on in-person instruction at private schools. The county’s policy was in conflict with Gov. Larry Hogan’s (R), and a hearing for a lawsuit on the matter was scheduled for this week.

• Minnesota (divided government): On Aug. 10, the Minnesota Department of Health released guidance for reopening long-term care facilities. Facilities with no exposure to COVID-19 in the last 28 days may consider reopening to visitors.

• Oregon (Democratic trifecta): Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced on Aug. 7 that she would issue an executive order mandating face coverings for people working in offices. Brown said she would issue the order and provide more details in a week or more.

• Washington (Democratic trifecta): Effective Aug. 10, gyms and fitness centers in counties in Phase Two or Phase Three of reopening must allow at least 300 square feet of space per customer. For gyms or fitness centers larger than 12,000 square feet, occupancy is limited to 25%.

Tracking industries: Face coverings

All 50 states are reopening in some way. Here, we give the status of one industry or activity across the states. Today’s question: in which states must you wear a face covering in public?

We last looked at face coverings in the Aug. 3rd edition of the newsletter. Since then, Mississippi instituted a statewide mask mandate. No states rescinded a statewide mask mandate.

This is an in-depth summary of two state plans to reopen public K-12 schools for the 2020-2021 school year.

Montana’s Reopening Montana Schools Guidance

Montana’s Office of Public Instruction released Reopening Montana Schools Guidance, a set of guidelines and best practices for reopening schools, on July 2. It was most recently updated on July 27.

Governor Steve Bullock (D) said, “We are acutely aware of the role played by in-person teaching, not only in the students’ lives, but also in the lives of the entire family. Public education has shaped who we are today, and we want to make certain that our children have the same experience. This is why we’ve made the safe reopening of our public schools a top priority. Noting the uniqueness of every school district in Montana, our goal for this document is not to be prescriptive, but to provide effective, flexible guidelines to all schools in hopes that we can safely resume in-person instruction in the fall.”

The school reopening guidance allows each school district to make its own decision about when and how it will reopen. The guidance says, “Montana is a ‘local control’ state. The best and final public education decisions are made by school district administrations, local school boards, and community stakeholders who know the context and unique needs of their local communities.”

Montana does not have a statewide date for public schools to reopen. According to EdWeek, public schools in Montana traditionally start the academic year in late August to mid-September, with the exact start date varying by district.

Bullock directed Montana’s public K-12 schools to close on March 16 for two weeks. Bullock extended the order on March 24. After the order expired, local school districts chose to stay closed for the remainder of the school year, opting for online instruction.

Context

Montana has a divided government. The governor is a Democrat, while Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state has had a divided government since 2005.

The following tables show public education statistics in Montana, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Details

District reopening plans

Districts are responsible for developing their own specific reopening plans. The guidance includes the following recommendation for local school districts:

In-person, hybrid, and online learning

The guidance allows local school districts to choose a reopening model. It provides guidance on how a school could operate fully online, near-full capacity in-person, or in a hybrid model:

The guidance says individual districts should consult with local health authorities to “determine which scenarios best fit their local situations.”

Mask requirements

The guidance does not require students, teachers, and staff to wear masks. It does, however, recommend schools follow the CDC’s recommendations on using face masks.

In-person health recommendations and requirements

The guidance includes recommendations for each scenario of in-person learning. They appear below.

Scenario 1: Under Scenario 1, buildings are closed and all students learn remotely.

Scenario 2: A limited number of students present in school building, with remote learning occurring for students who are off-site.

If schools plan to reopen they should consider:

Scenario 3: Increased capacity/number of students in the school building, limiting the number of activities to allow for continued physical distancing, and continued remote learning for students who are off-site.

Scenario 4: Near full capacity and full operations, continued vigilance in health and safety best practices, with remote learning for students who are off-site.

Confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19

If a student, teacher, or staff member has or is suspected of having COVID-19, the guidance includes the following recommendations:

Physical distancing

The guidance includes the following physical distancing recommendations:

Physical education

The guidance includes the following recommendations for physical education class:

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions

The guidance includes the following recommendations for school transportation:

Responses

• Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Watson said he wanted more specific guidance from the state on certain issues. Watson said, “The health screenings is a great example. There’s really no clear requirement to do a health screening in either the governor’s plan, nor the OPI plan. They recommend that you monitor students and staff for symptoms. But there’s no specificity, like when you should do it, how often you should do it.”
• Big Fork Public Schools Superintendent Matt Jenson also said he wanted more specificity from the state. Jenson said, “Anything from facemasks to social distancing to screening and temp check protocols, how many students can be on a bus at the same time.”

New Hampshire’s Grades K–12 Back-to-School Guidance

The New Hampshire Department of Education released its school reopening guidance on July 14. Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said, “What we didn’t want to do at the state level is say, ‘You must adhere,’ and have those certain circumstances where it just wasn’t possible, and then those districts come back and say, ‘I guess we have to close; there’s no way to manage what you’ve mandated. That’s the rigidity we have tried to remove from the system.”

New Hampshire does not have a statewide date for public schools to reopen. According to EdWeek, public schools in New Hampshire traditionally start the academic year in late August to early September, with the exact start date varying by district.

On March 15, Sununu ordered all schools in the state to transition to temporary remote instruction from March 16 to April 3. On April 16, Sununu closed schools for the remainder of the school year.

Context

New Hampshire has a divided government. The governor is a Republican, and Democrats have majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The state has had a divided government since 2019.

The following tables show public education statistics in New Hampshire, including a rank comparing it to the other 49 states. Rank one is the highest number of each figure, rank 50 is the lowest. All data comes from the Common Core of Data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Details

District reopening plans

Districts are responsible for developing their own specific reopening plans. The school reopening guidance allows each school district to make its own decision about when and how it will reopen. The guidance says, “This guide is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ document. Rather, it recognizes the varied local contexts of each school district and acknowledges that many districts may develop their own operational guidelines utilizing this document as their base of minimum requirements.”

In-person, hybrid, and online learning

The guidance includes some recommendations for online, in-person, and hybrid learning scenarios, but it does not require districts to follow them. The guidance says, “There is no single answer and the approach that a district takes will be a reflection of its individual community and community circumstances.”

The guidance included the following recommendations for preparing for dynamic instruction:

Mask requirements

The guidance says, “Each district will need to make decisions regarding the use of cloth face coverings for students, educators and visitors to each facility that are specific to their community. Such determinations will be reflective of circumstances on the ground at any given time and will likely be fluid and change as those circumstance [sic] change.”

In-person health recommendations and requirements

The guidance recommends students, teachers, and staff stay six feet apart during instruction, use hand sanitizer, wash their hands, avoid using shared materials, and clean and disinfect desks and other equipment each day.

If a student, teacher, or staff member has or is suspected of having COVID-19, the guidance includes the following recommendations:

The guidance recommends school districts consider serving “individually plated, boxed, or wrapped meals in the classroom instead of in a cafeteria,” staggering meal times, seating classroom groups together, arranging tables six feet apart, eating outdoors, and disinfecting tables.

Transportation and busing requirements and restrictions

The guidance includes the following recommendations for school transportation:

• Parent/Guardian Pick-Up and Drop-Off

• Bus Transportation

Responses

• According to New Hampshire Public Radio, Gorham superintendent David Backler “welcomed the state’s new guidance, saying it allowed North Country districts to resume school based on local conditions rather than infection rates in the southern tier.”
• Barrett Christina, director of the New Hampshire School Boards Association, said, “While honoring local control is the New Hampshire tradition, consistency among school districts can help ease some of the public and parents’ concerns about reopening.”
• Megan Tuttle, president of the NEA-NH, said, “Somehow, when it comes to school children and educators, the Governor believes the virus will act so differently that students and staff don’t need to wear masks, and social distance rules apply only if practical. We had hoped for a set of minimum safety standards for all schools to achieve before they were safe to reopen. Instead, we received 56 pages of ‘shoulds’ not ‘shalls.’ The fastest way to undo the remarkable progress New Hampshire has made against the virus is to allow these guidelines to define how we reopen our school.”

Additional activity

In this section, we feature examples of other federal, state, and local government activity, as well as influencers relevant to recovering from the pandemic.

• On Aug. 3, five Texas state lawmakers filed suit in Travis County District Court, asking the court to invalidate a $295 million-dollar COVID-19 contact tracing contract. At issue in the case is Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) use of emergency powers to procure and sign the contract outside normal procurement processes and without legislative approval. The plaintiff lawmakers are Texas state Reps. Mike Lang (R), Kyle Biedermann (R), Bill Zedler (R), Steve Toth (R), and Sen. Bob Hall (R). In their complaint, the lawmakers allege Abbott’s emergency actions are incompatible with Texas law, saying the “request for proposal for the contract was inadequate, the contract bid process was a sham, and the contract impermissibly exceeds two years.”The legislators allege the contract was awarded in violation of Tex. Gov’t Code § 2155.063, which requires “a purchase of or contract for goods or services shall, whenever possible, be accomplished through competitive bidding.” The lawmakers argue that the Texas law is “designed to ensure smooth operation during emergencies.” The legislators allege the executive branch cannot spend “essentially unlimited funds toward a goal unidentified by the legislature.” Abbott said, “Every lawsuit that has been filed against me has either been won in court or dismissed … this lawsuit will meet that exact same fate.” The judge assigned to the case has not yet been announced to the public.