Assessment of U.S. School District Policies for Pandemic Preparedness. Public

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to school districts across the U.S. closing to slow community transmission and to prevent healthcare systems from becoming overwhelmed before a vaccine or other countermeasure is available. Utilizing data from the 2016 School Health Policies and Preparedness Study (SHPPS), we aimed to describe baseline school district preparedness for school closures and other relevant strategies. We found that many school districts do not have written policies that would facilitate the implementation of unplanned school closures. Additionally, districts which may be less likely to notice the emergency of a novel disease in their jurisdiction through reporting of reasons for absence are also less likely to have plans in place facilitating closure implementation (OR=2.74, 95% CI= 1.38, 5.47). Causing further concern, only a small percentage of districts have plans for ensuring continuity of education (43.0%) or for feeding students during unplanned closure (33.8%). If not properly mitigated, extended closures may have especially profound long-term effects on the educational and financial well-being of low-income and rural families. Results from this study can be utilized to evaluate which district policies may need to be strengthened to reduce logistical, social, and economic difficulties moving forward and for anticipated subsequent closures.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

METHODS 5

-> SUBJECTS AND INSTRUMENTS 5

-> PROCEDURE 6

-> ANALYSES 7

RESULTS 8

DISCUSSION 11

-> LIMITATIONS 14

-> FUTURE DIRECTIONS 14

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 16

REFERENCES 17

TABLES 21

-> TABLE 1. DISTRIBUTION OF PLANS RELATED TO SCHOOL DISTRICT CLOSURES AMONG U.S. SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN 2016 21

-> TABLE 2. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ABILITY OF U.S. SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND ASSOCIATED HEALTH DEPARTMENTS TO MONITOR THE EFFECT OF SEASONAL OR PANDEMIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN 2016 22

-> TABLE 3. DIFFERENCES IN POLICIES FOR CONTINUITY OF EDUCATION AND NUTRITIONAL SERVICES BY SCHOOL DISTRICT CHARACTERISTICS IN 2016 23

SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES 24

-> TABLE S1. WEIGHTED CHARACTERISTICS OF PARTICIPATING SCHOOL DISTRICTS BY COMPONENT QUESTIONNAIRE IN SHPPS 2016 24

-> TABLE S2: VARIABLES OF INTEREST, BY QUESTIONNAIRE 25

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Epidemiology
Subfield / Discipline	Global Epidemiology - MPH & MSPH
Degree	M.P.H.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health Health Sciences, Epidemiology Education, Administration
Mot-clé	Pandemic response Emergency preparedness School policy COVID-19 Epidemiology Preparedness Influenza Pandemic School health Pandemic preparedness
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Allison Chamberlain, Emory University
Committee Members	Faruque Ahmed, CDC
Partnering Agencies	CDC

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