Study: Washington Among Safer States To Reopen Schools

WASHINGTON — Several school districts in western Washington have begun to reopen classrooms and transition back in to in-person instruction, but how ready is the evergreen state?

According to a new study from Wallethub, reopening schools in Washington is safer than most states, but there is still a good deal of room for improvement.

Their study, 2020's Safest States for Schools to Reopen, looked at 15 key metrics including:

• The number of child COVID-19 cases per 100,000 children.
• The number of child COVID-19 fatalities per 100,000 children.
• How the public uses masks or facial coverings.
• How many students use school transportation.
• The student-teacher ratio.

After compiling their data researchers ranked each state for safety, and found that Washington is the 18th safest state to reopen schools— not top ten material but much safer than many other states.

Washington also came in 20th in their assessment of 'risk of COVID-19 infections' and 23rd in their rankings of 'health and financial infrastructure.'

According to the study, the ten least safe states to reopen schools in were:

1. Mississippi
2. South Carolina
3. Arkansas
4. Arizona
5. Nevada
6. Tennessee
7. Missouri
8. Utah
9. Louisiana
10. Florida

On the other hand, the ten safest states are:

1. Vermont
2. Maine
3. Pennsylvania
4. Massachusetts
5. New Hampshire
6. Rhode Island
7. Ohio
8. New Jersey
9. Connecticut
10. Nebraska

While some districts in Washington state have begun to transition back to the classroom, how each school will reopen and when has been left up to each school district to decide. State guidance on the issue happens at the county-level, and is not legally enforceable, just a set of loose regulations for each district to consider before reopening.

Those state guidelines sort all of Washington's counties into high, low or moderate risk: so as case counts grow or shrink at the county level, the guidance advises districts how to reopen, or conversely, what programs to shut down.

A high risk county has seen 75 new coronavirus cases per every 100,000 residents over the past two weeks. In a high risk county the state recommends that all classes remain remote and that extracurricular activities be cancelled.

A moderate risk county is any county that has seen fewer than 75 but more than 25 coronavirus cases per every 100,000 residents over the last two-week period. Currently, that includes the state's most populous counties, like King, Pierce and Snohomish. In moderate risk counties, the state recommends distance learning for middle and high schoolers, but allows for in-person learning for younger students.

Finally, low risk counties are those that have seen fewer than 25 new coronavirus patients per every 100,000 residents over the last two weeks. Low risk counties are encouraged to adopt hybrid models for middle and high school students, and full-time in-person learning for elementary school students.