Student Well-Being

Goodbye to COVID Vaccine, Testing Mandates. What That Means for Schools

By Lauraine Langreo — September 16, 2022 3 min read
Doctor putting a band aid on woman's arm.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

States are shedding their COVID-19 testing requirements for unvaccinated school staff, as well as other mitigation strategies for schools, but some experts say it’s still important for schools to monitor their communities’ risk levels.

California and Illinois are the latest to lift their mandates. California State Public Health Officer Tomás Aragón announced this week that weekly COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated people in schools will no longer be required starting Sept. 17, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ended his state’s requirement that unvaccinated school and day-care workers undergo routine testing, effective Sept. 16.

The changes come a month after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 guidance for schools, which de-emphasized some common mitigation strategies, such as “test-to-stay” and quarantines.

The risk of severe illness from COVID in many individuals has been reduced, thanks to a combination of exposure, vaccinations, and boosters, but it’s not completely gone. Some epidemiologists have warned that super-contagious COVID-19 variants can still disrupt school staffing and operations, and vaccinated people are still at risk of repeated infections from the strains.

“It remains our continued goal to address the health risks of COVID-19, but current conditions of the pandemic are different from those of the last two years,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Sameer Vohra in a press release. “There are now many tools available for protecting our students, teachers, and the general public, including the latest updated bivalent vaccines and effective treatment options for children and adults.”

Soon after the CDC announced its relaxed guidance, some states that ordered teachers to get vaccinated or undergo regular testing started lifting their mandates to align with the federal guidance. For example:

Now the decisions about COVID safety protocols in these states are up to local school districts. Experts who spoke to Education Week emphasized the need for districts to make decisions based on the health and safety of their own school community.

“It’s important that school communities look to their local health departments to see what the guidance is, what the transmission rate is in their communities,” said Linda Mendonça, the president of the National Association of School Nurses. “And then make decisions based on what would be best for the health and safety of their school community.”

Megan Carmilani, the president and founder of the nonprofit Long Covid Families, said that having a multilayered approach is “in the best interest of keeping schools open.” That approach includes mask-wearing, testing, vaccinations, and even having better ventilation in schools, she said.

“The reason COVID safety measures are so important is because when you reduce spread, you reduce absenteeism and you maintain consistency in attendance. And that’s paramount for children’s education,” Carmilani said.

Some experts also said that perhaps even more important than vaccination is having better ventilation in schools.

“I’m a proponent of vaccination, but I’ll be the first to acknowledge that the current vaccines are not blocking transmission,” said Andrew Noymer, associate professor of population health and disease prevention at University of California, Irvine. “What I’d really like to see in school is clean air, through ventilation, and that will reduce transmission.”

Carmilani agreed, saying that ventilation is “the missing component” in COVID safety measures. “Our focus really should be on providing the best quality air for our children.”

It’s also important to think about COVID’s long-term impact, Carmilani said. Education Week has previously reported that thousands of students will facelong COVID and that 1 in 5 teachers said they’ve experienced the emerging illness.

“We really need to start thinking about long-term effects and start minimizing the level of virus being circulated and that our kids are exposed to,” Carmilani said.

A version of this article appeared in the September 28, 2022 edition of Education Week as Goodbye to COVID Vaccine, Testing Mandates. What That Means for Schools

Events

Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Boosting Student and Staff Mental Health: What Schools Can Do
Join this free virtual event based on recent reporting on student and staff mental health challenges and how schools have responded.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
Practical Methods for Integrating Computer Science into Core Curriculum
Dive into insights on integrating computer science into core curricula with expert tips and practical strategies to empower students at every grade level.
Content provided by Learning.com

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Well-Being All Public Schools Can Now Get Free COVID-19 Tests. Here's How
The Education Department is encouraging schools to share the COVID-19 tests with staff, families, and the broader community.
2 min read
COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York on April 5, 2023.
COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York on April 5, 2023.
Patrick Sison/AP
Student Well-Being Teletherapy Challenges: Schools Share How to Navigate Mental Health Support
Schools need to invest in the right ingredients to make their teletherapy sessions useful for students.
7 min read
A tele-therapy session at Kershaw County School District in Kershaw County, South Carolina.
A teletherapy session at the Kershaw County school district in South Carolina.
Courtesy of Presence
Student Well-Being Q&A What Is Driving Youth Mental Health Problems? It's Not Just About Social Media
Focusing too much on one potential cause of the youth mental health crisis could backfire.
3 min read
Teenage girl looking at smart phone
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being What the Research Says CDC: Child, Teen Suicide Rates Fell in 2022
While adult suicide rates are still climbing, those for school- and college-age Americans dropped.
2 min read
conceptual illustration of an umbrella opening clear skies in a storm
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty