School reopening is the process of putting in place policies, procedures and financing to enable students to attend in-person classes and for educators to provide them remotely. It involves balancing the needs of children to recover from learning loss, families and communities to maintain their daily lives, and governments to reduce community infection rates while protecting the right of access to education. It is also complex when considering the differing experiences of different school systems.

For example, New York City has maintained in-person instruction since late September 2020 while implementing multilayered mitigation strategies. The City’s reopening strategy integrates the State’s Micro-Cluster strategy with color-coded zones (yellow, orange, and red). The State’s three tiers define restrictions for each zone: schools in yellow and orange micro-clusters are permitted to open as long as a random 30% of students and staff receive mandatory monthly surveillance testing using a short nasal swab to detect COVID-19 genetic material within 3 days. This testing is provided by the city’s NYC Test & Trace Corps and covers all costs.

The City has also implemented strict classroom quarantine procedures and requires educators to be remote or in-person for 10 days after exposure to a confirmed case. Additionally, it has a robust system for tracking cases and communicating with infected individuals. This includes contact tracers who identify student-to-student, teacher-to-teacher, and staff-to-staff transmissions. The Corps also operates a hotel placement program for infected individuals to be placed temporarily away from their family members.