Other states set varying standards for school closure

As new COVID-19 cases crop up in Connecticut schools, local officials are making decisions about whether to close based partly on general state guidelines and their own judgment after assessing the potential exposure of each case.

Neighboring states like New York and Massachusetts follow a similar process, but their guidelines are different with varying ways of determining what prompts a school closure.

Dr. Zane Saul, chief of infectious disease at Bridgeport Hospital, said it makes sense that the states would establish different standards.

“Other states with other (population) densities and have other things to deal with,” he said. “I think it all depends on what the rates are in the state. I think that drives the guidelines states give schools.”

Like Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York have seen COVID-19 cases decline in recent months after being early hot spots for the disease.

Connecticut uses a sevenday rolling average of new cases per 100,000 people per day in a county to determine whether schools should remain open for in-person learning. The state recommends going to virtual learning if there are 25 or more cases per 100,000 residents.

In Massachusetts, however, decisions are based on the average daily cases per 100,000 over a two-week period in a municipality, and virtual learning is recommended if there are only eight new cases per 100,000.

Considering Massachusetts officials are making decisions based on the average number of cases in individual communities, and not counties, the cap is much lower than Connecticut’s standard.

“Connecticut’s rate for a county is much higher, but many local town public health directors have capped the number to around 10 to shift to remote learning,” said Michael Urban director of occupational therapy at the University of New Haven.

In New York, officials use percentages, and not numbers of cases, to determine the risk in schools. New York recommends its schools close if the regional infection rate rises above 9 percent, using a seven-day average.

Another nearby state with similar-but-different COVID standards for schools is New Jersey. Like Connecticut, New Jersey doesn’t necessarily recommend closing if there are only one or two students who test positive for COVID. However, the states vary in their standards for determining when a closure is necessary.

In New Jersey, if two or more cases are identified within 14 days that occur across multiple classrooms and a clear connection between cases cannot be easily identified, schools are closed for two weeks.

If a similar situation occurs in Connecticut, closing the school for 14 days is one option, but districts can take other courses of action depending on the circumstances, including quarantining the students and staff who were in close contact with infected individuals for 14 days.

“Every school has its own unique needs,” Saul said. “There are a lot of variables that need to go into things.”