A federal judge in Massachusetts has halted enforcement of several key vaccine policies imposed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ruling that the Trump administration illegally overhauled a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee dedicated to issuing immunization recommendations.

The decision, which comes in response to a filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics last July, temporarily blocks the enforcement of all recommendations voted on by the panel. That includes the overhaul of a decades-old recommendation that all newborn babies receive a vaccine against , a push to emphasize the risks of and a ban on vaccine preservatives like .

The ruling also temporarily halts participation from 13 of the panel鈥檚 15 members, complicating a meeting that was to begin later this week.

The CDC鈥檚 committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is charged with setting national guidelines around which people should be vaccinated against a wide range of preventable diseases and when those vaccines should be administered. The recommendations play a key role in determining which vaccines insurance companies are willing to cover and how accessible those immunizations are to the public.

Last June, Kennedy all 17 members of the committee and replaced them with a slate of hand-picked appointees, many of whom are seen as vaccine skeptics. In his Monday , District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy ruled that the Trump administration likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to appoint qualified, nonpartisan experts, as the panel鈥檚 charter requires.

By ignoring those requirements, 鈥渢he Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions,鈥� Murphy鈥檚 ruling reads.

Dr. Andrew Racine, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, celebrated the ruling, calling it 鈥渁 historic and welcome outcome for children, communities, and pediatricians everywhere.鈥�

鈥淔or decades, the AAP partnered closely with the federal government to advance our mission of attaining the optimal health and well-being of children and youth,鈥� Racine added. 鈥淲e would much prefer to return to that partnership and collaborate with federal healthcare agencies instead of litigating against them.鈥�

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

It is up to individual states to determine if they want to adopt the newly announced Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations that now advise universal vaccination against 11 diseases 鈥� down from 17.  

The new guidelines will lead to 鈥渕ore splintering of vaccine policies鈥� and a patchwork system, warned vaccine law expert Richard Hughes, who also predicted legal challenges to the way the change was implemented.

Northe Saunders, president of the pro-vaccine advocacy organization American Families for Vaccines, said 鈥渢here鈥檚 going to be a red-state, blue-state divide where blue states look to the science, and red states look to the ill-conceived recommendations of the federal government.鈥�

鈥淲ith differing vaccine schedules state by state,鈥� he continued, 鈥減arents aren鈥檛 going to know what the right thing to do for their family is.鈥�

The new guidelines continue to universally recommend vaccines against 11 diseases including measles, mumps, rubella, polio and tetanus. But, shots protecting against a number of other diseases will no longer be recommended and will only be available for certain high-risk groups or after a consultation with a medical professional, also known as shared clinical decision-making. 

These include meningococcal disease 鈥� which causes meningitis 鈥� hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus and respiratory syncytial virus, more commonly known as RSV, the

CDC officials said their decision will more closely align the United States with other peer nations, mirroring a policy objective voiced by President Donald Trump in December, but one that critics claim is a false equivalency meant to further the administration鈥檚 anti-vaccine agenda.

鈥淎fter an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent,鈥� Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, said Monday. 鈥淭his decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.鈥�

Sean O鈥橪eary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Disease, said Monday 鈥渨hat was announced today is part of a decades-long effort on the part of the health secretary to spread fear and falsehoods about vaccines. This is another step in the secretary’s effort to dismantle the U.S. vaccination system.鈥�

While shared clinical decision-making for these vaccines 鈥渕ay sound good on its surface, it’s actually really problematic,鈥� said O鈥橪eary. Pediatricians are already having these conversations with parents before vaccinating their kids. Shifting the recommendation won鈥檛 strengthen those exchanges, 鈥渋t just makes things more confusing for parents and clinicians,鈥� he said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics will continue to recommend kids get vaccinated against all 17 diseases, and multiple states have already banded together to form regional health alliances and establish their own vaccine recommendations. In September, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington created the to 鈥渆nsure residents remain protected by science, not politics.鈥�

Later that month, several others announced the . While neither alliance is solely focused on immunization policy, both have stated goals of science-based vaccine recommendations and equitable access to shots.

At the same time, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis veered towards a vastly different approach, announcing the state鈥檚 intention to become the first to drop all vaccine mandates, including for schoolchildren. State officials have since taken steps towards making that goal a reality.

鈥楥hildren鈥檚 lives are at stake鈥�

William Moss, director of the Johns Hopkins鈥� International Vaccine Access Center, told 社区黑料 this week鈥檚 dramatic shift in the CDC鈥檚 recommendation 鈥渨ill lead to more disease and potentially some deaths in children in this country that could have been prevented.鈥�

The process that led to the changes represents a sharp departure from past practices, which would have required extensive research, a forum for public comment, an opportunity for relevant stakeholders 鈥� such as vaccine manufacturers and pediatricians 鈥� to weigh in and a formal meeting of the CDC鈥檚 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, also known as ACIP. 

Significant changes such as the one announced Monday were historically 鈥渧ery deliberate by design,鈥� said O鈥橪eary because 鈥渓iterally children鈥檚 health and children鈥檚 lives are at stake.鈥�

None of those steps were followed here, said Hughes, a George Washington University law professor.

鈥淭hese are not rigorous analyses,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淭hese are not people who are qualified to be making these decisions. They鈥檙e not grounded in evidence. And for that reason they are unlawful.鈥�

Kennedy last year fired all 17 ACIP members, replacing them with hastily hand-picked advisors who largely share his views on vaccines. It has since voted to overturn a recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine; change policies surrounding the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (chickenpox) combination vaccine; and roll back recommendations around 2025鈥檚 COVID 19 booster. 

The decision to change the childhood vaccine schedule in a much more far-reaching way did not go through ACIP, and the premise it was based on 鈥� to more closely match U.S. policy with those of other wealthy nations such as Denmark 鈥� is not a sound one, according to medical experts.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just copy and paste public health,鈥� said O鈥橪eary, who argued there are fundamental differences between the counties that lead to very different needs.

Moss echoed this point: 鈥淒enmark has a universal health care system where we have this very fragmented, insurance-based health care system. Denmark’s the size of Wisconsin, so [the U.S. is] just a much bigger country, a more complex country.鈥�

And, when it comes to diseases such as hepatitis B, Denmark has much stronger screening rates.

While HHS claimed all vaccines previously recommended will remain fully covered by insurance and available to parents who want to vaccinate their kids, others are less sure. According to O鈥橪eary, HHS leaders appear to have misunderstood how insurance companies determine coverage: Historically vaccines recommended for high-risk groups are only covered for children included in that group.

At the very least, doctors and advocates argue, the shift will put up additional barriers in an environment that is already filled with vaccine hesitancy and confusion, inevitably leading to diminished uptake and, ultimately, more sick kids. Health care providers may also start stocking fewer vaccines, making it harder for families to access them. 

There also remains uncertainty around who can actually participate in the shared clinical decision-making; in some states, this may mean that pharmacists can no longer administer vaccines, such as RSV, independently.听

And even if the shots remain available, this week鈥檚 action by the CDC will likely further undermine confidence in vaccines, as immunization rates are already falling and diseases are on the uptick. 

In 2025, there were 2,065 confirmed measles cases 鈥� the most recorded since the U.S. deemed the virus eliminated a quarter-century ago. The vast majority of cases were in unvaccinated kids, died. 

Flu cases this season are also rising at a faster rate than in previous years, There have been 7.5 million cases so far, leading to 81,000 hospitalizations, and 3,100 deaths 鈥� including eight children. Despite this week鈥檚 updated guidance, the still recommends everyone 6 months and older receive a flu shot. 

The 12 members, who were recently handpicked by controversial Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also debated overturning decades of established practice around hepatitis B shots for newborns, though they ultimately tabled that vote.

The other two shots in play were the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (chickenpox) combination vaccine, also known as MMRV, and this year鈥檚 COVID 19 booster. 

By the end of the week, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, also known as ACIP, voted to no longer recommend the MMRV combination vaccine for kids under 4 years old, rendering it largely inaccessible for that age group. 

The committee also voted to shift the COVID 19 booster recommendation to 鈥渟hared clinical decision making鈥� for all people over 6 months old 鈥� regardless of age or risk level 鈥� meaning that before getting the shot, individuals will need to talk through the pros and cons with a health care provider, which includes pharmacists. 

Through this departure, the committee largely preserved access and insurance coverage, while also raising doubts about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, at times citing debunked theories.

鈥淭here is just widespread confusion about, 鈥榃hat should I do as a parent? Who should I listen to?鈥欌�� said Northe Saunders, executive director of the pro-vaccine advocacy organization , formerly called SAFE Communities Coalition. 

鈥淎merican parents and American providers don’t actually know what the best recommendations are anymore,鈥� he added, 鈥渁nd so that is going to lead to more hesitancy, because there’s uncertainty about what the right thing to do is, and that’s going to lead to declining immunization rates.鈥�

Before the ACIP meeting, MMRV and hepatitis B vaccine recommendations were based on decades of established practices supported by science, which experts described as 鈥渟ettled,鈥� so it was unclear why they were being relitigated, according to numerous medical professionals, including those who spoke during the meetings as well as those interviewed by 社区黑料.

The point of these conversations is, 鈥渢o raise doubt, to confuse people,鈥� said Paul Offit, the director of the and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia. Offit was instrumental in the creation of the rotavirus vaccine and previously served as an ACIP member. 

鈥淭he degree to which the public is confused about vaccines is the degree to which they will be less likely to get them,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd that is RFK Jr’s goal: to make vaccines less available, less affordable and more feared.鈥�

The meetings themselves appeared to be marked by moments of pronounced confusion for the new committee members, some of whom asked for clarification around what they were voting on multiple times.

At least some of this was likely due to their unusual level of inexperience, which committee Chair Martin Kulldorff even noted as he opened day two on Friday.

鈥淲e are rookies,” Kulldorff “With one exception, this was either our first ACIP meeting or our second.”

Typically, committee members are highly qualified medical professionals who are vetted for months to years before serving. In an unprecedented upheaval earlier in June, Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 existing advisory members via a Wall Street Journal 鈥� after promising he would leave the committee鈥檚 recommendations intact. 

Almost immediately he brought on eight new members, a number of whom have espoused anti-vaccine rhetoric and other scientific misinformation. One of them eventually stepped down and Kennedy then added an additional five members leading up to last week鈥檚 sessions.

Measles, mumps, rubella and varicella

The MMR vaccine was in the United States in 1971, followed by the MMRV vaccine in 2005. Two doses of the combined shot were preferred until 2008, when monitoring studies showed an increased risk of febrile seizures 鈥� convulsions in a young child caused by a fever 鈥� following the first dose. 

While these seizures are short-lived, resolve themselves and are not associated with any long-term negative outcomes, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e hard to watch,鈥� said Offit.

So by 2009, the CDC released updated recommendations, in place up until Thursday鈥檚 vote, which advocate for separating MMR and varicella for the first dose at age 12-47 months and administrating the combined shot for the second dose at age 4-6 years old. These vaccines are among those required for school entry in all 50 states, though numerous states have recently introduced legislation to loosen mandates, and exemptions are on the rise.

The vast majority of parents (85%) opted to follow that recommendation for separating the shots, with 15% still choosing the combination vaccine for the first dose, often to avoid multiple jabs of an infant.

The committee鈥檚 recent update to the recommendations will mean that choice no longer exists.

While this change itself is 鈥渘ot a huge deal,鈥� Offit said, the arguments brought up by committee members were 鈥渋ntellectually disingenuous鈥� and will only continue to 鈥渞aise doubt.鈥�

Stacy Buchanan is a pediatric nurse practitioner and a clinical professor who is the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners鈥� liaison to ACIP

鈥淚 really feel like this was brought up to just further confuse caregivers that are already questioning whether or not they want to have their child vaccinated,鈥� said Buchanan. 鈥淎nd in a time where we’re seeing unprecedented numbers of measles in communities, I think that we need to be really clear that the MMR vaccine 鈥� whether you’re getting the combined or two separate injections 鈥� is really key and needs to be administered routinely based on the schedule.鈥�

In past years, the liaisons like Buchanan, who have on-the-ground clinical experience, would weigh in during the committee鈥檚 working group meetings to help evaluate the evidence. That precedent was unexpectedly overturned in late July when the liaisons received an email accusing them of being and no longer permitted to serve. Now they can only be heard during the public comment portion of the meetings.

In a statement released Thursday, the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote, 鈥淭oday鈥檚 meeting of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) promoted false claims and misguided information about vaccines as part of an unprecedented effort to limit access to routine childhood immunizations and sow fear and mistrust in vaccines. Following today鈥檚 meeting, instead of emerging with clear guidance about vaccines that we know protect against serious illnesses, families are left with confusion, chaos and false information.鈥�

The AAP also emphasized that they had released their own , which includes unchanged MMRV vaccination recommendations.

Committee members elected for the combination shot for those under 4 to remain covered by Vaccines for Children, which provides vaccines to millions of kids who otherwise wouldn鈥檛 be able to afford them, despite their recommendation against its use. Some members apparently misunderstood what they had voted on Thursday and reversed their stance the next morning. 

COVID 19 booster

On Friday, the committee voted on four measures surrounding the COVID 19 booster shot. Three passed, and the fourth, which was the most controversial and would have recommended required prescriptions for anyone seeking to get the shot, ended in a tie vote that ultimately failed.

During his presentation, Retsef Levi, put in charge of the working group on COVID, raised a number of concerns around mRNA vaccines that have been widely disputed, including the assertion that they could change the way the body reacts to its own genetic material. Levi is a professor of operations management at MIT鈥檚 Sloan School of Management and has no formal medical training.

The three provisions that did pass will mean that while the vaccine is not actively recommended for anyone 鈥� including those at high risk of infection 鈥� those over the age of 6 months can access it as long as they make the decision in conjunction with a health care provider.

Richard Hughes, a George Washington University law professor and leading vaccine law expert, said the committee appears to be using the practice known as 鈥渟hared clinical decision making,鈥� because it 鈥済ets at that medical freedom rhetoric 鈥� and provides an option other than 鈥榥o recommendation鈥� 鈥� but is not a good option.鈥�

While this sort of policy sounds like it鈥檚 creating greater choice, ultimately evidence shows it leads to struggles for health care providers who haven鈥檛 been given clear risk factors, Hughes said. This can be cumbersome, time consuming and lead to patient distrust.

鈥淲hen you know that it鈥檚 an automatic 鈥榶ou should get it鈥� that鈥檚 different than 鈥業 don鈥檛 know, it鈥檚 kind of murky,’鈥� he added.

The new policy is particularly confusing, said Offit, since last month the Food and Drug Administration only licensed the boosters for those . 

鈥淭he good news is, anybody can use it,鈥� Offit said, 鈥渆ven though, according to the FDA, they’d be using it off label. But we don’t recommend it for anybody. Basically, that’s what they’re saying.鈥�

He described this as a 鈥渂ad choice鈥� which will lead to fewer people being vaccinated and fragmented state-by-state policies.

Earlier this month, the governors of Washington, California and Oregon announced they鈥檇 be forming to establish their own vaccine recommendations, which Hawaii quickly joined. A few weeks later, seven northeastern states, including New York and Pennsylvania, formed with a similar goal.

Hepatitis B

The hepatitis B vaccine was first recommended by ACIP in Before that point, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people, including about 20,000 children, were infected with the highly contagious virus each year. 

This was particularly dangerous for infants who have a 90% chance of developing liver cancer or chronic liver disease, if they contract the virus. For 4- and 5-year-olds, that chance remains high at 30-40%.

At one point, the vaccine was only recommended for infants whose mothers tested positive for the virus, since it can be transmitted during birth, but for a number of reasons 鈥� including inaccurate test results 鈥� this was found to be ineffective. So by 1991, ACIP鈥檚 recommendation was expanded to include universal birth doses. Since then, infant infections have dropped by 95%.

According to Offit, the birth dose 鈥渉as always been a target of anti-vaccine activists,鈥� since the hepatitis B virus can be transmitted sexually. But it can also be transmitted in many other ways, including through surfaces. 

On Thursday, ACIP members were meant to vote on an updated recommendation which would have delayed the initial dose until an infant is one month, a move that would likely lead to a serious reduction in uptake, according to doctors.

Ultimately, after hours of arguments, which included research Offit called 鈥渂ogus,鈥� the committee ran out of time to vote on the measure Thursday. Friday morning they chose to table it indefinitely. 

Buchanan, the nurse practitioner, expressed concern that the safety of the well-established vaccine was even being reargued in the first place: 鈥淭he 鈥榳hy鈥� was never there, and that’s so important, because we should not be bringing things to a formal ACIP committee vote without having a science-based rationale for bringing the question forward.鈥�

While Hughes was relieved the vote was punted, Offit was more pessimistic, expressing fears that the committee will eventually try to push the first dose even later than one month.

鈥淎nd that would be a tragic decision,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat would mean that there will be children in this country who will get hepatitis B in the first year of life, or in childhood 鈥� which will limit their life for no reason.鈥�

A trained doctor, he spent 26 years working in pediatric infectious disease and studying the rotaviruses before ultimately creating the strain that became the RotaTeq vaccine. That breakthrough saves 165,000 lives globally each year, he said, and has essentially eliminated the 70,000 annual U.S. hospitalizations caused by the contagious diarrhoeal virus common in young kids.

Now the director of the and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Offit also serves as a member of the Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 . And about 20 years ago, he spent half a decade on the committee responsible for making recommendations on the safety, efficacy and clinical need for vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That committee, also known as the , or ACIP, experienced an unprecedented upheaval earlier this month when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 advisory members via a Wall Street Journal 鈥� after promising he would leave the committee鈥檚 recommendations intact.

鈥淭he committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,鈥� wrote Kennedy, the head of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and a longtime vaccine skeptic.

In a statement released by HHS, Kennedy said he was 鈥減rioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,鈥� and later promised via that none of the replacement members would be 鈥渋deological anti-vaxxers.鈥� Public health experts are now disputing that claim in light of his eight recent appointments.

鈥淭his is a slate that lacks a balanced viewpoint,鈥� said Richard Hughes, a George Washington University law professor and leading vaccine law expert. 鈥淎nd it’s deeply concerning that many of them are outright anti-vaccine and have their own very concerning conflicts of interest, despite the fact that the secretary claims that he鈥檚 trying to avoid conflicts of interest on the committee.鈥�

This could be particularly dangerous for children, some warn, as the committee鈥檚 recommendations often dictate which vaccines are covered by insurance and which are mandated for school-aged kids. Programs that provide free vaccines for kids could also see their funding cut.

社区黑料鈥檚 Amanda Geduld recently spoke with Offit to better understand the implications of the mass firing, what kids and their families can expect moving forward and how future administrations might work to rebuild trust in the public health vaccine system. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

社区黑料: Are you in touch with any of the folks who were fired from ACIP? If so, how did they receive that news and what was the mood among the members?

Offit: Well, they found out about it, typically, from reading the newspaper and learning that they had been fired from that position. The mood was one of sadness, because obviously there was no good reason to do it. 

The reason given by Robert F Kennedy Jr. was that all the members were horribly conflicted with pharmaceutical companies [and] that their financial ties to pharmaceutical companies made it such that they couldn’t give advice that would be beneficial to the American public, and that wasn鈥檛 true.

I mean, they have very strict conflict of interest rules at the ACIP whereby you have to make it very clear that you have no association with the pharmaceutical industry and no association with the government, which then allows you to be an independent advisor. And should there be a conflict 鈥� then you can’t vote on that company’s product, and you can’t vote on any product that that company makes. That’s very clear. That’s been clear ever since I was on the committee back 25 years ago.

So it sounds like there was confusion, disappointment and a feeling that the reasons given for the firing weren鈥檛 based in reality? 

They were angry. They were angry that they felt that they’d been dismissed for no good reason and that their willingness to serve the American public had been set aside. I mean, it’s not like you’re paid to do this. It’s just a voluntary position for the most part.

In your knowledge, has anything like this ever happened before?

No, but we’ve never had a secretary of Health and Human Services that was an anti-vaccine activist, science denialist and conspiracy theorist before.

Zooming out a little bit, what鈥檚 the significance of these firings? And what impacts can we anticipate?

I think we can anticipate that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will put people on that committee who are like minded to him. We’re already seeing evidence of that with the first eight people that he picked. 

So I think what’s going to happen is that there are going to be groups that look elsewhere from the ACIP to try and get information that they think is reliable and up to date and informative. 

What I imagine is that, for example, the American Academy of Pediatrics has its so-called Red Book committee, or . I would imagine that that committee will start to speak with insurance companies to make sure that their recommendations would then have kind of the force of law 鈥� Because I can’t imagine the insurance companies are going to be looking to ACIP, given its current members.

My understanding is, up until this point, insurance companies and states 鈥� when they’re trying to determine school vaccination policies 鈥� have looked to ACIP for guidance. You’re saying that maybe insurance companies will look elsewhere for that information, but is there any concern that this will just mean vaccines are no longer covered by insurance, or that school-age vaccine policies are undermined altogether?

Yes, there’s concern, but it is to the financial advantage of insurance companies to pay for vaccines. I mean, you’d much rather pay for an HPV vaccine than to pay for the care of a woman who has cervical cancer. You’d much rather pay for a measles-containing vaccine than to pay for measles hospitalization.

So there isn’t necessarily concern here that suddenly these vaccines won’t be accessible to families from lower-income backgrounds?

I don’t know. I mean, I think it’s a frantic, chaotic time, and it’s really hard to know. Everything that you sort of counted on to make sense doesn’t make sense anymore. 

It used to be that solid, good science was how we made decisions, and that’s not true anymore with the ACIP. You can tell when Robert F Kennedy Jr. says we want gold standard science, that’s not what he means. What he really means is he wants quote, unquote scientific studies that support his fixed, immutable belief that vaccines cause more harm than good.

In a post on recently Kennedy wrote, 鈥淭he most outrageous example of ACIP鈥檚 malevolent malpractice has been its stubborn unwillingness to demand adequate safety trials before recommending new vaccines for our children.鈥� Has there been an unwillingness to demand adequate safety trials for new vaccines for children in America?

The opposite is true. I had the fortune of working with a team that created the rotavirus vaccine. Before that vaccine was put on the infant immunization schedule, it was tested in a prospective, placebo-controlled trial of more than 70,000 infants. It was done over four years in 11 countries to prove that that vaccine was safe and effective. That was a 70,000- person prospective, placebo-controlled trial that probably cost $350 million. 

I don’t know what he’s talking about. Name the vaccine. Name a new vaccine that hasn’t been tested in a large, prospective, placebo-controlled trial. They all are. 

The problem is that when they’re shown to work and they’re safe, he doesn’t believe it, because he’s a science denialist. That’s what he really means.

Are there any other ways this could impact school-aged kids in particular?

Now what worries me is, I think if RFK Jr. really wants to bring down vaccines, he can do it through the What he could do is he could hold up a paper and say, 鈥淟ook, aluminum adjuvants cause autism or multiple sclerosis or diabetes or asthma, and now I’m going to add that to the list of compensable injuries.鈥�

So anybody with asthma who’s gotten a vaccine that contains an 鈥� and there are seven different vaccines that contain aluminum adjuvants [an ingredient that helps create a stronger immune response] 鈥� is now on the list of compensable injuries. 

Or [he could say] 鈥淚’m going to take these vaccines out of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and then just subject them to civil litigation.鈥� That would really disrupt vaccines in this country. I think companies would then do what they did in the 1980s 鈥� They’d leave the market. We had 18 companies that made vaccines in 1980. By the end of the decade, we only had four. 

So does that mean that while this ACIP move might introduce anger and distrust there are no real trickle-down effects that you think we’ll see yet in terms of what vaccines are available or what vaccines are covered?

I think you’ll know a lot when you watch the June [advisory committee] meeting, to hear that discussion, and to hear how pharmaceutical companies react to that discussion and how insurers react to that discussion. I think you’ll learn a lot in the next couple of weeks.

Can you tell me a little bit about the folks who replaced the 17 members? Eight people have been announced so far.

They’re who you would most fear. 

You have people like Robert Malone, in front of Marjorie Taylor Green’s committees 鈥� that the mRNA vaccines cause cancer and heart disease and autoimmune disease. Robert Malone has been an expert witness on behalf of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a lawsuit against the mumps component of the MMR vaccine. 

You have somebody like Martin Kulldorff who has represented 鈥� for 鈥� Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a lawsuit against Merck鈥檚 Gardasil [HPV] vaccine. 

You have people who have published papers claiming that the mRNA vaccines caused heart attacks and sudden death in healthy, young people. You have Vicky Pebsworth, who is a member of the , which is an anti-vaccine group that has lobbied against state vaccine mandates for years. 

This is exactly the cavalcade of stars that you would expect RFK Jr. to feel comfortable with: people who are 鈥� like him 鈥� anti-vaccine activists, who are science denialists. 

It’s the worst of all worlds. It’s like a bad Saturday Night Live skit.

During Kennedy鈥檚 HHS confirmation hearings back in January, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy 鈥� a former physician 鈥� expressed a lot of trepidation around the nomination, but ultimately voted to confirm, citing various commitments he had received from the administration. One of those promises, Cassidy was that 鈥渋f confirmed [Kennedy] will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations without changes.鈥濃��

Critics have since argued that Kennedy鈥檚 move to fire all members amounts to a broken promise, a claim Cassidy himself has since disputed. Is this a broken promise?

He鈥檚 been breaking promises right from the beginning. I think Cassidy put out a list of 10 or so things [Kennedy] promised he wouldn鈥檛 do. And he proceeded to do it.

I鈥檓 reading: He has committed that he would work within current vaccine approval on safety monitoring systems. That he hasn’t done. 

He’ll maintain the CDC Advisory Committee Immunization Practices recommendation without changes, and he hasn’t done that either. 

He’s already, for example, changed the recommendation on pregnancy, changed the routine recommendation for young children to get COVID vaccines. And now Cassidy also put out saying that for those of you who think [Kennedy] may just put vaccine skeptics on [the committee], he’s not gonna do that. Then he proceeds to do that. 

What Cassidy does is he draws a line. He says, 鈥淒on’t cross this line.鈥� Then Kennedy crosses the line, and he doesn’t do anything 鈥� just draws another line. I think he is weak and ineffectual. And I think his legacy will be the harm that’s caused to children and adults in this country because of this massive disruption of the public health vaccine system. I think that will be Sen. Cassidy’s legacy.

Have you spoken to Sen. Cassidy? If you could speak to him today, what would you say to him?

I spoke to him four times before that second confirmation hearing, and once afterwards. I said to him exactly what you would think I would say to him, which is, 鈥淒on’t hire this guy. She knows. She told you exactly who he is.鈥�

It鈥檚 really frustrating. I was sure [Cassidy] was a 鈥渘o鈥� vote. He clearly had problems with him. But in the end, politics trump science. I think when you mix politics and science, you always get politics.

My last question is around this idea of trust. Kennedy has said that he removed all these members and is replacing them in response to a 鈥渃risis of public trust.鈥� On the other side, there are folks who do not at all trust Kennedy. Looking forward, what will it take to rebuild trust in these systems?

I think there was a tremendous loss of trust in the first two years of the pandemic 鈥� I think people saw [many COVID-era policies as] a real impingement on their freedom, and that’s what you’re seeing now. 

I think that RFK Jr. represents the disdain that people ended up having for the CDC and for Dr. Fauci, unfortunately. I think that’s what happened 鈥o the point that there were states that were trying to ban mRNA vaccines. The term 鈥渕RNA vaccines鈥� has become a dirty word, even though it probably saved 3 million lives and probably cost more than 250,000 people their lives when they chose not to get the vaccine. But somehow that all got linked with sort of stepping on our medical freedom, and that’s what you’re seeing now. 

So what’s it going to take to get that back? I think slowly, we’re just going to have to make sure that we 鈥� as scientists and clinicians and academicians and public health people 鈥� explain in careful detail why we do everything.

But public health is also about the public. I mean, you have to care about your neighbor in order to have public health. I think right now, we’re sort of at a point where people go, 鈥淒on’t tell me what to do. If I want to catch and transmit a potentially fatal infection, that’s my right.鈥� And I don’t think we used to be like that.

Is there anything else I haven’t asked you that you want readers to understand, specifically through an education- and child-centered lens?

What’s that line from Bette Davis in All About Eve? 鈥淏uckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy night鈥� 鈥� although everybody says bumpy ride.  鈥�

I think it is going to be a bumpy ride for a while, and then we’ll just see. I believe that the forces of good will prevail. I do. 

I think that there’s a basic feeling among virtually everyone that vaccines are a good thing, and that as people see them erode or maybe become less available or less affordable or more feared that people will rally on behalf of children. I do.

SEMINOLE 鈥� An 8-year-old girl with measles died Thursday morning, the second known measles-related death in an ongoing outbreak that has infected nearly 500 Texans since January. Her funeral was Sunday at a church in Seminole followed by a private burial.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., visited the West Texas town that has been the epicenter of the outbreak Sunday and was expected to meet with the family.

“My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief,” Kennedy . He went on to describe the resources he deployed to Texas in March after , claiming that the “growth rates for new cases and hospitalizations have flattened” since Kennedy sent a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state reported 59 new cases in three days last week.

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The child who died Thursday, Daisy Hildebrand, was not vaccinated and had no known underlying health conditions, said a spokesperson for University Medical Center in Lubbock, where she had been hospitalized. She died from “measles pulmonary failure,” the Texas Department of State Health Services .

“This unfortunate event underscores the importance of vaccination,” Vice President of University Medical Center Aaron Davis said in a statement. “We encourage all individuals to stay current with their vaccinations to help protect themselves and the broader community.”

The death comes about five weeks after unvaccinated 6-year-old Kayley Fehr , the first such death in the country in a decade. Fehr’s that their stance on vaccination did not change after their daughter’s death.

The West Texas outbreak , most of whom are unvaccinated children, according to the state health department.

The outbreak began in Gaines County, located about 90 minutes southwest of Lubbock on the New Mexico border. Since then, cases have been reported in 18 other Texas counties, as far east as Erath County in central Texas.

The CDC has linked the Texas outbreak with measles cases in Oklahoma and New Mexico, where an unvaccinated individual who tested positive for measles died in March. And the World Health Organization reported that cases in Mexico were linked to Texas.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through respiratory droplets passed through the air by breathing, coughing and sneezing. Vaccination is the safest way to build immunity to the virus. Two doses of MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles; one dose is about 93% effective, according to the CDC.

Measles was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 following a highly successful vaccination program. But vaccine skeptics, fueled by misinformation and a disdain for COVID-era mandates, have sown distrust of public health and contributed to declining rates of vaccination. In Gaines County, 82% of kindergarteners are up to date on their MMR vaccine. Experts say communities need a 95% threshold to prevent the spread of measles.

A CDC spokesperson said in an email that Kennedy鈥檚 visit to Texas on Sunday resulted in discussions with Texas state health officials to deploy a second CDC response team to West Texas to further assist with the state鈥檚 efforts to protect its residents against measles and its complications.

Dr. Manisha Patel, incident manager for the CDC, said their team arrived in Gaines County in March and left on April 1. A spokesperson for the CDC said in light of today’s news and Kennedy’s order to re-deploy, another team will be in the county.

鈥淲e’re learning a lot in Gaines County on how we can help other jurisdictions also prepare for measles in their states,鈥� Patel said.

Patel said it鈥檚 important to go in with a sensitive approach when it comes to small, close-knit communities that are unvaccinated.

However, she said there are three pieces to their measles control measures: the vaccine, not traveling if you鈥檙e exposed, and staying at home.

鈥淢MR is the best way to protect yourself, your families, your communities against measles,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淎nd, if you’re starting to get very sick from measles, not to delay care.鈥�

Patel said for some communities, it鈥檚 important to find trusted messengers. In some cases, she said, the federal government might not be the best choice for that and it has to be someone in the community. To work around this, Patel said they鈥檝e worked directly with state and local health departments to find who the trusted messengers are.

鈥淥ur role is making sure those trusted messengers have the materials and information they need,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淪o we translate, for example, materials into a German or Spanish or whatever the community needs.鈥�

State health officials have said that the outbreak could persist for months. It has spread most quickly in pockets of Texas with below-average vaccination rates. In Gaines County, where a large unvaccinated Mennonite community resides, 315 people have been infected.

People infected with measles usually experience symptoms within a week or two of exposure. Early symptoms include high fever, runny nose and watery eyes. A few days later, a rash breaks out on the face and then spreads down the neck to the rest of the body. Infected individuals are contagious about four days before the rash appears and up to four days after, according to state health officials.

Doctors typically recommend all children get two doses of the MMR vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 through 15 months and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age.

Parents of infants aged 6 to 11 months living in outbreak areas should consult their pediatrician about getting the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, Sara Safarzadeh Amiri, chief medical officer for Odessa Regional Medical Center and Scenic Mountain Medical Center, said on Sunday.

Amiri said she was unaware of the second reported death but that it is not unexpected given the continued spread of the outbreak.

So far, 56 measles patients in Texas have been hospitalized, according to state health officials.

This article originally appeared in at . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

In 2023, 72% of transgender students and 69% of those questioning report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and 1 in 4 attempted suicide. By comparison, 11% of cisgender girls and 5% of cisgender boys reported a suicide attempt. Ten percent of trans youth received medical treatment after trying to take their own life. 

Last year marked the first time data on high school students鈥� gender identity was collected as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Administered every other year to some 20,000 ninth- through 12^th-graders, the survey has long been considered the most accurate depiction of the well-being of LGBTQ youth.听

This most recent survey is also the first to collect data on student welfare since dozens of laws in almost half of U.S. states have rolled back protections for LGBTQ youth and limited transgender people鈥檚 access to health care. A released in September by The Trevor Project found the rate of suicide attempts rose by up to 72% in places that enacted the laws between 2018 and 2022. 

鈥淭he figures reported by the CDC are harrowing and indicate that much remains to be done to support transgender young people’s health and safety in the U.S., especially as we’re witnessing another record-breaking year of anti-transgender legislation,鈥� says Ronita Nath, Trevor鈥檚 vice president of research. 

The federal data adds to research showing that LGBTQ students aren鈥檛 safe at school. Compared with 8.5% of cisgender male students, more than 1 in 4 gender-nonconforming youth reported skipping school within the last month out of fear, and 40% said they were bullied. More than 10% of transgender and questioning students lacked stable housing, a rate five times higher than that of their cisgender peers. 

“These data confirm what we have long known to be true: Transgender young people are disproportionately impacted by a number of health disparities,鈥� says Nath. 鈥淚t鈥檚 crucial to clarify that these young people are not inherently prone to these negative mental health outcomes, but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized by others.鈥�

According to the Movement Advancement Project, 53% of all LGBTQ people now live in states where there are no legal protections for queer students. Another 2% live in places where new laws prohibit local governments, including school districts, from enacting anti-discrimination policies. States with anti-bullying laws are home to 45% of the LGBTQ population.

Data about trans youth is scarce, but the statistics that are available underscore higher rates of poor mental health, suicidality, in-school victimization and other struggles. The number of youth who identify as gender-nonconforming or questioning in the new CDC data is much higher than past estimates. Extrapolating from 2017 and 2019 Youth Risk Behavior statistics drawn from a smaller number of states, in 2022 the Williams Institute, a UCLA-based LGBTQ research center, suggested 1.4% of teens are transgender. 

It is known that a higher number of youth now identify as LGBTQ in general than previous generations. But researchers caution that at least one more CDC survey cycle is needed to draw conclusions about whether teens are now more likely to say their gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. 

In 2022, President Joe Biden  geared at expanding LGBTQ data collection by the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies. At the same time, however, at least 10 states 鈥� including six where anti-gay and trans legislation has been enacted 鈥� in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey in full or in part. Civil rights advocates have complained that this will make it harder to . 

鈥淲e are grateful to see that, finally, transgender young people are being counted,鈥� says Nath. 鈥淲e urge all public health institutions to continue collecting data on this population, and to fund additional research and resources to better serve and protect transgender youth across the country.”

In 2023, two in ten teens were bullied at school and one in ten did not attend due to safety concerns, 4% increases since 2021. Two percent more were injured or threatened at school. About one in ten experienced sexual violence, roughly the same amount as two years ago, according to 20,000 high schoolers surveyed nationwide for the latest iteration of the CDC鈥檚 Youth Risk and Behavior survey.

For the first time, the CDC鈥檚 2023 survey prompted teens to reflect on racism, unfair discipline and social media use. Nearly one third of students reported being 鈥渢reated badly or unfairly at school because of their race or ethnicity鈥� by educators or peers.

Some key indicators show 鈥減rogress鈥� in combatting the youth mental health crisis: About 10% of Black students reported attempting suicide in 2023, down from 14% in 2021. At the same time, fewer female and Hispanic students seriously considered suicide or experienced persistent sadness or hopelessness in 2023 than in 2021. But roughly half of both groups still experience depressive symptoms, and at rates higher than national averages. 

“The data released today show improvements to a number of metrics that measure young people’s mental well-being 鈥� progress we can build on. However, this work is far from complete,鈥� said Debra Houry, chief medical officer with the agency, in a press release last week. 鈥淓very child should feel safe and supported, and CDC will continue its work to turn this data into action until we reach that goal.” 

Only about half of teens felt close to people in their school, with key demographic groups reporting being especially vulnerable: Girls, LGBTQ and Native youth were forced into or experienced risky behavior more than their peers across nearly all metrics, including substance use, physical and sexual violence, depression, and suicidality. 

The general rise in aggressive behavior, while concerning, is not particularly surprising to experts.

鈥淲e are still seeing a long-tail of effect from the height of the pandemic with kids having been isolated鈥� The ninth grader of today is still a bit less mature, not as good at problem solving, not as clear in their communication with peers, especially when it comes to conflict,鈥� said child psychologist and Boston-area schools consultant Deborah Offner.

Students’ sexual activity and drug use overall mirrored rates from 2021, significantly declining over the last decade. Fewer teens have ever had sex, from about half to one in three. But those that have engaged in more risky behavior: fewer used condoms or were tested for STIs. 

While overall declines in depressive symptoms and suicidality are not 鈥済iant,鈥� said Offner, 鈥渁s we emerge from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, kids in my orbit are overall doing better on average than they were a few years ago. Most of that is [thanks to] the reentry into the social environment of school and activities.鈥�

Recommending stronger health education and opportunities for young people to build relationships, belonging at school, the CDC urged schools to . Some ideas for schools include facilitating mentorship or advisory opportunities for older students to be role models for younger students, who may be feeling lost in their first years in high school, and training all school staff to be strong listeners, 鈥渂ecause you never know who a kid is going to tap into,鈥� Offner said. 

Below are five key findings from the report: 

1. Violence and bullying increased 2% and 4%, respectively, from 2021 to 2023, with about one in ten avoiding school for safety concerns and two in ten being bullied. 

Sexual violence was as prevalent in 2023 as it was in 2021: roughly one in ten teens. Girls and LGBTQ youth were more likely than their peers to experience sexual and physical violence. 

The frequency of bullying at school, students report, increased 4% since 2021, bumping back up to pre-pandemic levels. LGBTQ students experienced bullying the most of any subgroup, with three in ten having been bullied and two in ten missing school because of safety fears.

2. 2023 saw a 2% decline in the share of kids persistently sad, hopeless or making suicide plans, but significantly more experience depression symptoms than did in 2013.

Four in ten teens on average reported consistent depression symptoms, up from three in ten just a decade ago. While 4% fewer girls experienced such symptoms than and 3% less seriously considered suicide than in 2021, the proportion of girls experiencing depressive symptoms is much higher than their peers: over five in ten, 53%.

Among LGBTQ youth, six in ten felt persistently sad or hopeless, and two in ten attempted suicide.

Offner said while social media is often scapegoated as the core driver of depressive symptoms, the most common reasons youth cite as causes of internal conflicts are family or friend-related, like witnessing parents鈥� economic uncertainty or emotional instability, and working through friendship disagreements. 

Many, she added, are also feeling climate anxiety and worried about material needs more than other generations 鈥� their parents placing intense pressure to succeed academically and go onto lucrative careers. 

However social media does serve as a 鈥渟ocial comparison accelerator,鈥� she said, where teens may compare themselves to others or feel bad about being excluded from activities. 

Native teens 鈥� the subgroup spending least amount of time on social media according to the CDC, with about half using it several times a day 鈥� are still the subgroup experiencing highest rates of poor mental health and persistent depressive symptoms. 

3. One third of teens experienced racism, and nearly two in ten reported being unfairly disciplined. 

With the CDC asking for the first time, 32% of high school students reported being 鈥渢reated badly or unfairly in school because of their race.鈥� Asian, multiracial, and Black students reported this more often than peers, at 57%, 49%, and 46% respectively.

On average, 19% of teens were 鈥渦nfairly disciplined鈥� at school in 2023, with male, Native, Black and multiracial students reporting at a rate 3-13% above average. One in three Native youth reported being unfairly disciplined, more than any other race or ethnicity.

4. No significant changes in teens鈥� sexual behavior since 2021. Overall, students are having less sex than in 2013. 

While three in ten teens reported having had sex, down from about five in ten a decade ago; only a third used some form of oral birth control, and half used condoms. 

Six percent of teens polled had four or more sexual partners in 2023, compared to 15% the decade prior. 

Some reasons for the decline may be increased immaturity, said Offner, which is impacting kids鈥� relationship experience. She has also witnessed more young people express ownership of their bodies and wanting to go slowly in their sexual experiences, 鈥淚 think they鈥檙e learning from the mistakes of previous generations, too.鈥� 

5. Alcohol, marijuana, and illicit drug consumption is declining. But vulnerable student populations 鈥� LGBTQ, Native youth, and girls 鈥� used more than their peers. 

In 2023, about 22% of teens reported drinking alcohol, a significant decrease from 35% ten years prior. The number is slightly higher for girls, with about one in four drinking. While the proportion of Black kids drinking increased from 2021 to 2023, their rate is still under average, at 17%. 

Roughly the same amount used marijuana as did two years ago, about 17%, down from 23% in 2013.

Only about one in ten used illicit drugs, like psychedelics and stimulants, or misused prescription opioids. Teens鈥� illicit drug use has declined 6% overall in the last decade. 

Offner observed teens today are a little more health cautious, and have witnessed more siblings and peers practice sobriety intentionally. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much more acceptable to say that you don’t use them or aren’t interested in using them,鈥� she added. 

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Additional resources are available at . For LGBTQ mental health support, you can contact toll-free support line at 866-488-7386.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at

New York City schools will no longer require a five-day quarantine for those who test positive for COVID, according to issued to principals and posted online Monday.

Educators across the five boroughs have been eagerly awaiting an update for more than two weeks, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its pandemic-era guidance that urged individuals who tested positive for COVID to isolate for at least five days.

Since March 1, the federal agency has instructed people to remain at home and they have not had a fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication. The CDC still advises people to take over the following five days, including wearing a mask, social distancing, and testing.

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Education Department policy directs those experiencing COVID symptoms to isolate themselves from others and get tested. Like the CDC, the city now recommends students and staff stay home until symptoms have improved and they鈥檙e fever free for 24 hours without the aid of medication. The department also urges students and staff to wear a mask and take other precautions for five days after returning to school.

For those who test positive for the virus but exhibit no symptoms, 鈥渢here is no need to stay home, but precautions outlined in the updated guidelines should be taken upon return to school,鈥� according to the email sent to principals.

The new policy for schools also matches the city鈥檚 .

The elimination of a minimum isolation period is the latest in a series of changes that have loosened COVID-related restrictions in schools 鈥� as federal and city health authorities have moved to treat the virus more like the flu and other common respiratory infections. Last spring, Mayor Eric Adams announced that proof of vaccination against the virus would for city employees and school visitors. And schools previously sunsetted masking requirements, vaccine mandates for student athletes and prom attendees, as well as daily health screenings and in-school COVID testing for students and staff.

The city鈥檚 public schools will continue to provide COVID tests in school upon request, according to the email sent to principals. (As of this month, the federal government has ended its free COVID test distribution program, and are no longer distributing free tests.)

Schools staff will still be able to take up to 10 days off for COVID-related absences without dipping into their sick days this year, according to the United Federation of Teachers, which emailed members about the updated guidance Monday evening.

COVID cases have fallen steadily since mid-January, after the city saw an uptick in cases over the holidays. As of March 14, there were about , according to New York City鈥檚 daily average of the last seven days from the Health Department. That was down slightly from the week before and had fallen from roughly 87 cases per 100,000 people in September.

Though the city鈥檚 Health Department tracks cases by age group, the spread of the virus is no longer publicly reported by school. In September, the city鈥檚 Education Department tracking the daily number of cases among students and staffers across schools.

The city鈥檚 Education and Health departments did not respond to multiple requests for the city鈥檚 COVID guidance for schools in recent weeks.

Michael Elsen-Rooney contributed.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

In the 2021-22 school year, more than one in four U.S. public school students missed at least 10% of school days. Before the pandemic, it was closer to one in seven, the Associated Press , relying on data from 40 states and the District of Columbia. 

In New York City, the nation鈥檚 largest district, chronic absenteeism , according to district officials, meaning some 375,000 students were regularly absent. In Washington, D.C., it . In Detroit, .

Data are just beginning to emerge for the most recent school year, but a few snapshots present a troubling picture:

• In Oakland, Calif., district officials said were chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year; 
• In Providence, R.I., the district in September said of students missed at least 10 percent last year;
• And in suburban , near Washington, D.C., about 27% of students were chronically absent last year, up from 20% four years earlier. As elsewhere, high school students were more likely to be chronically absent. 

While many policymakers have cited disconnection from school as a key reason for the problem, others say it has different causes unique to the times we鈥檙e in 鈥� causes that educators have rarely had to deal with so fully until now, from the death of caregivers to rising teacher absences and even, for older students, a more attractive labor market. 

Here, according to researchers, school officials and parents鈥� organizations, among others, are six hidden (and not-so-hidden) reasons that chronic absenteeism rates remain high.

1. Worsening mental health

In a by the National Center for Education Statistics, 70% of public schools reported an increase in the percentage of students seeking mental health services at school since the start of the pandemic; 76% reported an increase in staff voicing concerns about students with symptoms of depression, anxiety and trauma.

And after modest declines in 2019 and 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported during the pandemic. Suicides are rising fastest among young people, among other groups.

鈥淲e’re in the middle of a mental health crisis for kids,鈥� said , president of the National Parents Union. She said mental health support, both in our public education system and larger health care system, is inadequate to deal with the crisis.

鈥淜ids are literally refusing to go [to school]. That is a major issue that I hear from parents every day. ‘I can’t get my kid up. They do not want to go.’鈥�

For many students, school has lost its value, she said, 鈥渂ecause there’s not a lot of meat on the bone,鈥� either because instruction has worsened or because many students feel they can do what鈥檚 required from home. 

2. Death of caregivers

As many as in the U.S. have lost one or both parents to the pandemic, researchers now estimate, with about 359,000 losing a primary or secondary caregiver, including a grandparent.

Those losses hit hardest in multigenerational, low-income households, since many grandparents and other relatives were playing caregiving roles, said , a research professor at Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 School of Education. 鈥淚t now falls to the teenagers,鈥� he said. Even those who don鈥檛 care for younger siblings may now need to do so for surviving parents or even grandparents, making school less of a priority.

3. Teacher absences 

Among the most politically charged storylines to emerge from the pandemic was the that of teachers and other school staff pushing to ensure their safety, often by keeping schools operating remotely or demanding generous COVID-related sick-day policies.

The result has been an explosion of teacher absenteeism alongside that of students. In Illinois, just 66% of teachers had fewer than 10 absences in 2022. In west of Chicago, it was even lower at just 54% of teachers.

A May 2022 found that chronic teacher absenteeism during the 2021-22 school year had increased in 72% of schools, compared to a typical pre-pandemic school year. In 37% of schools, teacher absenteeism increased 鈥渁 lot.鈥�  

Simultaneously, it found, 60% of schools nationwide found it harder to find substitute teachers. And when subs couldn鈥檛 be found, 73% of schools brought in administrators to cover classes.

That makes school a lot less valuable for students, said Rodrigues. 鈥淲hat we saw in COVID is how little instruction many of our kids are actually getting,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so it’s very hard as a parent to make the argument: ‘No, you’ve got to go. This is important for your future,’ when all you’re doing there is sitting and watching a movie because you have a sub again and again and again.鈥�

4. Remote assignments

While many students struggled to keep up with schoolwork during the pandemic, the experience revolutionized schools鈥� thinking about remote learning. Most significantly, it gave students the ability to complete classwork entirely at home, without stepping into the school building. In many districts, schools have continued to allow students to, in essence, work from home like their parents.

Combined with looser rules around sick-day attendance, observers say, this has resulted in millions of students 鈥� and their parents 鈥� deciding that five-day-a-week school attendance is no longer mandatory. 

鈥淜ids don’t see why they can’t ,鈥� said Tim Daly, former president of TNTP and co-founder of the consulting firm . In a recent issue of his newsletter, Daly noted that when students miss a day of school, 鈥渁ll the work is available online in real-time, making it simple for a student to complete it all from home before the day is even done.鈥�

Given the low quality of instruction that many parents saw during the pandemic, he said, parents now are less likely to worry if their child is missing a day. 鈥淪itting in a desk for six hours a day,鈥� he wrote, 鈥渋s for suckers.鈥�

Student testimonials bear that out, said Montgomery County鈥檚 Neff.

Students in focus groups now tell administrators that five-day-a-week attendance now seems optional, he said. 鈥淭hey’ve told us repeatedly, ‘We got so used to a year-and-a-half or more taking classes, sitting on our bed in our pajamas on our computer.’ And many of them are continuing a struggle to get back into school regularly.鈥�

Students who learned reasonably well at home, he said, now wonder, 鈥溾�榃hy are you telling me now I have to sit in seven periods a day for five days a week?’ 

At one of the nation鈥檚 most renowned suburban high schools, New Trier High School near Chicago, the percentage of chronically absent students rose to more than 25% last winter, the Chicago Tribune . Absenteeism rose as students got older, officials noted, with rates of just over 14% for freshmen but nearly 38% for seniors.

By late May, even the student editors of the school newspaper declared that they : 鈥淲hile this trend isn鈥檛 unique to New Trier,鈥� they wrote in an editorial, 鈥渋t鈥檚 also not acceptable. We believe that both the school and students need to do more.鈥�

Jean Hahn, a New Trier board member, last spring pointed out that many adults now work remotely. 鈥淪o many of us don鈥檛 have to be at our desk 9-5 Monday through Friday anymore,鈥� Hahn told attendees at a board meeting. 鈥淚t鈥檚 challenging for parents to explain to our young people why they do.鈥�

5. A higher minimum wage

Over the past few years, more than half of the 50 states have been in a kind of arms race to raise their minimum wage, tempting teens to trim their school hours or drop out altogether to help their families get by.

While the federal minimum wage since 2009 has remained $7.25, 30 states have set theirs higher, according to the left-leaning . While just four states and the District of Columbia now guarantee a minimum wage at or above $15, eight states are on pace to get there by 2026 or sooner.

In states offering $15 an hour, said Hopkins鈥� Balfanz, this likely made the absentee problem worse. 

鈥淭hat’s real money to a 17-year-old,鈥� he said, offering them both a bit of personal agency and the opportunity to help out their families. 鈥淭hings that did not make sense at $6 an hour do make sense, then, at $15.鈥�

Steven Neff, director of pupil personnel and attendance services for Montgomery County Public Schools, the suburban D.C. district, said students 鈥渁re telling us that there is great value in being able to have a job that is paying reasonably well.鈥� Minimum wage work, he said, now 鈥渉as even greater financial enticements than when I think about minimum wage when I was their age.鈥� 

6. Better record-keeping

One reason why chronic absenteeism seems to be spreading may have less to do with actual attendance and more with better record-keeping by districts and states.

Until recently, researchers found that the problem was often confined mostly to high-poverty neighborhoods. 

But here鈥檚 the thing: A decade ago, few schools even kept track of chronic absenteeism. Most states didn鈥檛 actively track it until 2016, when new flexibility under the federal allowed them to choose indicators of school quality according to their own desired outcomes. That鈥檚 when about 30 states made it an indicator in their accountability systems 鈥� and on school report cards.

Before that, Balfanz said, school districts typically measured average daily attendance, which could actually mask high chronic absenteeism that lurked around the edges. It’s mathematically possible, he said, to have an average daily attendance of 92% 鈥渂ut still have a fifth of your kids missing a month of school. Different kids on different days are making up that 92%.鈥�

So by 2020, when the pandemic hit, schools had only been tracking it for a few years and had few good strategies to address it, Balfanz said. 鈥淚t’s relatively new. And then the pandemic spread it everywhere.鈥�

Where do we go from here?

At New Trier, student pressure eventually paid off, resulting in a new plan this fall: In preparation for the 2023-24 school year, a school committee recommended for absences, including just five 鈥渕ental health days鈥� per year. It also bans students from participating in extracurriculars if they鈥檙e not in class that day. They鈥檒l get an email by 3:15 p.m. notifying them not to show up to sports or other activities.

Simple interventions can also help: A found that offering parents personalized nudges by mail about their kids鈥� absences reduced chronic absenteeism by 10% or more, partly by correcting parents鈥� incorrect beliefs that their kids hadn鈥檛 missed as much school as they actually had 鈥� research shows that both parents and students underestimate it by nearly 50%.

That鈥檚 probably preferable to how many schools attack the problem, via 鈥渟upportive鈥� phone calls home, said Hopkins鈥� Balfanz. 鈥淲ho’s going to make 150 phone calls a day in a school?鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you have that one person assigned to it, they literally would be spending the whole day calling.鈥�

EdNavigator鈥檚 Daly says schools should reset the discussion around attendance, urging parents to let their kids miss school as rarely as possible and communicate honestly about absentee rates.

Neff, the Montgomery County attendance services director, said transparency 鈥渋ncreases the urgency in all of us鈥� and is essential if schools want to get parents on board.

鈥淚n order to fully have them understand the gravity of the situation, we needed to show them: 鈥楬ere is our data. Here is where it was, here is where it is and where it is for certain groups. We need your help to fix this.鈥� 鈥�

Plans to discontinue the Iowa Youth Risk Behavior Survey and a new barrier for surveying Iowa students pose a threat to data collected on youth behaviors, advocates say, specifically young transgender Iowans.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has no plans to administer the Youth Risk Behavior Survey this academic year, the first time since the survey started in 1991.

In a letter sent to Youth Risk Behavior Survey advisory committee members, Robert Kruse, the state medical director for the Iowa Department of HHS, announced Iowa will not participate in the 2023 Center for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 (CDC) youth risk behavior survey.

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鈥淭he Iowa Department of HHS will not be participating in the CDC鈥檚 Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2023 in order to focus our efforts on maximizing the state administered Iowa Youth Survey (IYS) and improving survey participation,鈥� Kruse鈥檚 Jan. 27 letter to YRBS advisory committee members said.

The nationwide survey overseen by the CDC is administered every two years and asks students about their behaviors and relationships with authority figures, drugs, alcohol, sexual activity and gambling, to name a few.

Although students in Iowa will still be offered the IYS, they can not take it unless a parent has seen the survey in advance and given permission for their student to take it.

Parental permission

, signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds on May 26, requires that students must receive permission from their parents before taking a survey at school. The law prevents students from taking surveys 鈥渄esigned to assess the student鈥檚 mental, emotional or physical health that is not required by state or federal law鈥� without first acquiring the written consent of the student鈥檚 parent or guardian.

Parents must receive at least seven days notice of the survey, as well as a copy of the survey.

The law also containing written or visual sex acts, prohibits schools from teaching about 鈥済ender identity鈥� or 鈥渟exual orientation鈥� before sixth grade, prohibits a student from using a name or pronoun than they were given at birth and prevents teachers from knowingly providing 鈥渇alse or misleading鈥� information on a child鈥檚 gender identity to their parents.

Jenn Turner, chapter chair for the Polk County Moms For Liberty, sees student surveys as a way for young people to get ideas about things they may not have thought about before.

鈥淲e have found that many parents are not aware of what questions are being asked,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淚t ranges from what vegetables you eat to how many sexual partners to if you have considered suicide for children as young as 11. Some parents may determine that these questions are too mature, or cover topics their children are not ready for or do not understand.鈥�

Turner and Moms For Liberty support the recent law change, saying that it gives control to parents and allows for more transparency about what is going on in school.

鈥淧arents are the number one advocates for their children,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淭hey should ultimately be making these decisions for their children. This law provides another tool to help parents understand what is presented to their children in school.鈥�

Advocates of the IYS say this law will limit participation and usable data. The extra step of taking home a permission slip and having it signed and returned to a classroom will keep some students from taking the survey, in addition to parents who do not permit their children to take the survey.

Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa and member of the Iowa YRBS advisory committee, acknowledges permission from parents during school registration as reasonable but believes useful data could be harder to collect with permission required for individual surveys throughout the year.

Parental permission could skew results in another way, according to Discher.

鈥淐ertainly one might assume that the types of parents who would opt out might have things in common,鈥� Discher said. 鈥淚t could skew the survey and I think generally speaking the concern would be that participation would be so low you might not get useful data anyway.鈥�

In a Feb. 23 committee meeting for Senate File 496, State Sen. Herman Quirmbach raised a potential unintended consequence he sees with parental permission.

鈥淭he unintended consequence of that may be to protect child molesters,鈥� Quirmbach, D-Ames, said. 鈥淚f a survey to a student asking about that student鈥檚 mental state or their social state, if the parent can deny their student the ability to participate in that survey, then an abusive parent can use that denial to help shield them from any consequence of their child abuse.鈥�

The surveys are anonymous, but survey data could skew if Quirmbach鈥檚 speculation is correct, ultimately affecting future legislation and policy decisions.

Data disaggregation

Surveys like the risk behavior survey and the IYS are used by health departments, educators, lawmakers, doctors and community organizations to make policy decisions, direct campaigns and give direction to research.

The most recent risk behavior survey asked students about their gender identity; the IYS did not.

According to Discher, one of the goals of the Department of HHS in the past was to increase participation in student surveys to allow for the disaggregation of data.

鈥淚t was a strong goal to be able to disaggregate it by race and ethnicity, for example, or by LGBTQ+ status,鈥� Discher said. 鈥淭he conversations we had always had were how can we get more schools to participate so we can have better data for subgroups.鈥�

Eventually, there was a sense of pushback contrary to the former beliefs and goals of the department, Discher says.

鈥淚 find that this pushback which came from somewhere in the department or maybe not in the department,鈥� Discher said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where the push for all of this came from, but it is very much counter to all of the work that we had seen the department do up to this point, which was try to get more data, better data, to disaggregate the data so they could really understand what was happening with youth in Iowa.鈥�

According to Kruse鈥檚 letter to the committee, the Iowa Youth Survey will be revised, but the revisions are not currently public, if finished. It is unclear if the IYS will enable disaggregation of data for students who identify as transgender.

鈥淚n advance of IYS in the fall of 2023, HHS will conduct a comprehensive review of survey administration,鈥� Kruse said. 鈥淢ost importantly, we are reviewing the analysis-to-action strategy and how HHS can tailor the data collection to inform how we meet the needs of Iowa youth, families, schools and communities.鈥�

Without the Iowa youth risk behavior survey, and if the IYS is not revised to include a question about gender identity, disaggregating data for trans youth will not be possible.

鈥淚 find it sad that that鈥檚 a piece of data that we are going to lose,鈥� Discher said. 鈥淚 find it kind of cynical that the state Legislature took all of these moves to make life worse, in particular for trans kids. To deny them gender-affirming care, to make them feel less like they鈥檙e an important member of their community and now we aren鈥檛 going to collect data on mental health for that group.鈥�

Although the letter sent to YRBS committee members stated Iowa would not participate in the risk behavior survey to focus efforts on maximizing the IYS participation, the survey switch-up feels more intentional than maximizing efforts, according to Discher.

鈥淚t is very hard for me to look at it and not understand it as part of a larger anti-trans push in our state,鈥� Discher said. 鈥淚n the Legislature, we passed a lot of very punitive, harmful bills and now we鈥檙e going to stop collecting data on the well-being of the kids that they鈥檙e harming. Did anyone sit and think of it in that exact way? I don鈥檛 know, but it鈥檚 very hard to not interpret it that way.鈥�

The 2021, IYS did include a , with answer options of straight, gay or lesbian, bisexual, another identity or not sure.

Explaining the examinations

The survey was first administered in 1991, with Survey participation peaked at 47 four times; 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. 

Iowa will be one of seven states not participating in the survey in 2023, joining Colorado, Idaho, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

The reasoning for participation varies from state to state and many states have their own survey as a replacement or in addition to the CDC鈥檚 survey.

According to , the youth risk behavior data helps health departments, educators, lawmakers, doctors and community organizations to inform school and community programs, communications campaigns and other efforts. The survey measures health-related behaviors and experiences that may lead to death and disability among youth and adults.

Although the IYS asks similar questions as the risk behavior survey, IYS is only taken statewide, so results cannot be easily compared among other states. Data from the IYS, though, can be broken up into smaller regions of Iowa, compared to the risk behavior survey, which gives data for youth in the state as a whole.

鈥淭he national survey only reports state-level data which makes it impossible to identify areas of the state with the greatest needs,鈥� Alex Carfrae, public information officer for the Iowa Department of HHS said in an email response to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

IYS data is reported and analyzed at multiple jurisdiction levels, allowing more specific, targeted decisions to be made for specific areas such as counties, judicial districts and Area Education Agencies.

The two surveys have a history in Iowa, with the youth risk behavior survey taken every other year since 1991 and the Iowa youth survey taken every other year since 1999.

The IYS is answered by students in grades 6, 8 and 11, where the youth risk behavior survey has only been offered to students in grades 9-12. The CDC does offer a middle school version of the youth risk behavior survey, but .

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on and .

It dramatized what has become increasingly apparent over the past few years: Students are in the midst of a mental health crisis. The U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has warned of this repeatedly. 鈥淢ental health challenges in children, adolescents and young adults are real and widespread,鈥� he said in this . 鈥淓ven before the pandemic, an alarming number of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression and thoughts of suicide 鈥� and rates have increased over the past decade.鈥� 

He is not being overly dramatic. In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its , highlighting trends and experiences of U.S. high school students. The findings are sobering. Twenty-two percent, including 30% of girls, seriously considered suicide during the past year, and 10% actually made an attempt. 

Depression and anxiety are also on the rise among young people: according to recent CDC data, reported feeling so sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row that they stopped their usual activities. Sadly, many young people turn to drugs and alcohol to cope.  

Now is the time to change this pattern.

The Cook Center partnered with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the and the to host the mental health summit because school leaders bear much of the weight of mental health concerns among young people. In fact, some 80% of families rely on schools for their child’s mental health.

During the summit 鈥� the first time AASA had sponsored a conference specifically to address student mental health 鈥� educators explored the crisis in depth and collaborated with superintendents from rural, urban, low-income and affluent schools to map out possible solutions. They learned how to discuss mental health in a productive way with teachers, students and parents, using data and language supplied by experts from the foundation and the institute. Since the summit, superintendents have returned to their communities with the knowledge and tools to approach problems more analytically.

Importantly, the AASA Mental Health Cohort was established to help implement real solutions for all students. There are more than 40 members who regularly connect with one another to develop strategic plans, increase support options for all members of their school communities and work toward solutions that can be built into schools鈥� routines and their existing state, local or Title I funding.

In one member’s district, school staff meet with students and their families following a mental health hospitalization under a new school reintegration initiative. The team partners with local behavioral health providers, such as hospitals or inpatient treatment centers, to make sure the school understands the struggling student’s medical needs and can support the behavioral health treatment. The goal is to ease the transition back into a typical school routine without sacrificing the positive effects of the treatment. The program is new, but the district leader is collecting data to improve and expand it. The Jed Foundation has a available that aims to eliminate suicide among young adults, and Mental Health America鈥檚 for schools offers tips to students, teachers and even businesses to support the mental health of young people. 

The Cook Center has developed two resources that are available at no cost. is an animated series that models how the human connection can protect against suicide. The series tells stories of characters who face some of the most difficult issues that young people deal with and shows how they come to the key decision that life is worth living. 

is a free online resource where families can access courses and find answers from therapists. Districts can partner with the site to get additional resources for families, including mental health seminars tailored to local needs.

There has never been a better time to invest in children’s mental health. Unprecedented funding is available: The Department of Health and Human Services has allocated $35 million for mental health services and suicide prevention programs for youth. Congress increased appropriations for the Mental Health Block Grant by $100 million to help state and local governments fill gaps in services. And the Department of Education now has $144 million each year for the next five years to award to state education agencies and districts for mental health support.

Whether that funding is made available long term depends on how well schools implement programs and get feedback quickly. Districts have tremendous leeway in how they gather data and measure their effectiveness of their mental health support programs. Legislators will likely reward initiative and initially fund new programs. But they will also demand accountability, that school leaders gather data and develop improvement cycles. The good news is that fathering data and developing improvement cycles are already institutional skills that education systems do really well.

New coalitions like the AASA Mental Health Cohort and nonprofit groups like the Cook Center for Human Connection and JED are ready to help schools and districts take action to alleviate the mental health crisis among the youth they serve. Time is of the essence. The well-being of millions of young people is on the line.

And Weingarten largely complied, saying it 鈥渕ade sense to consult with the CDC鈥� as the pandemic progressed in 2021.

But in testimony on Wednesday before the House , Weingarten pushed back forcefully against GOP claims that the union exerted 鈥渋nappropriate influence鈥� over the guidance or worked behind the scenes to keep U.S. public schools closed for longer than necessary.

She said any allegations of undue influence over prolonged closures are inaccurate, noting that the CDC approved just 鈥渙ne particular edit鈥� to a policy about accommodations for immunocompromised teachers.

Weingarten also noted that neither the CDC nor teachers unions had the authority to open or close schools, despite the AFT鈥檚 aggressive moves to ensure members鈥� workplaces were safe. In one instance in 2020, the union threatened 鈥溾�� if school reopening plans didn鈥檛 meet their health and safety standards.

The subcommittee鈥檚 Republican chairman, U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, last month previewed Wednesday鈥檚 hearing, alleging in a March 28 that the CDC let the AFT edit its operational strategy for reopening schools prior to its February 2021 release. The guidance, Wenstrup said, advised keeping schools closed in more than 90 percent of U.S. counties, 鈥渃ontrary to the prevailing science.鈥�

He said the AFT and Weingarten got 鈥渦ncommon鈥� access to the draft plan, even making line-by-line additions that 鈥渃oincidently shifted the CDC鈥檚 guidance to align with AFT鈥檚 agenda 鈥� keeping schools closed.鈥�

The issue of closures remains contentious more than three years after the pandemic shuttered virtually every public school in America. Researchers are quantifying their human cost in lost learning time, lower school attendance, worsening mental health, deteriorating school behavior and lower childhood vaccination rates, among other indicators.

have shown that widespread reliance on remote and hybrid schooling during the pandemic had 鈥減rofound consequences鈥� for achievement, with students, especially those in high-poverty areas, losing more ground in math the longer they learned remotely. Learning gaps in math didn鈥檛 worsen in places where schools remained in-person.

During the hearing, Weingarten said it was appropriate for public health authorities to consult with education groups 鈥� she said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky noted that the agency conferred with more than 50 organizations about the guidance.

鈥淚t was not only appropriate for the CDC to confer with educators. It would have been irresponsible for them not to,鈥� Weingarten said.

She told committee members that it was the Biden administration鈥檚 idea to approach the AFT about the guidance, not the other way around. But she denied that the AFT provided, in Wenstrup鈥檚 words, 鈥渟uggested revisions to the CDC’s operational strategy regarding school closures or reopenings.鈥�

鈥淲hat we suggested, sir, was ideas,鈥� she said. 

But Republicans on the committee, trying to make the case that the politically powerful union shouldn鈥檛 have a hand in U.S. health policy, pushed to tie Weingarten as closely as possible to the Biden administration. At one point, Rep. Debbie Lesko of Arizona told her, 鈥淚’m a member of Congress that sits on two committees that deal with the CDC. I don’t have a direct number to Director Walensky. Do you?鈥�

Weingarten admitted she did.

鈥淲ell, hopefully she’ll give it to me too,鈥� Lesko said. 

The hearing was delayed for nearly half an hour as House lawmakers approved legislation to raise the U.S.’s debt ceiling while cutting federal spending, including President Biden鈥檚 proposal to forgive student debt.

While Weingarten was Wednesday鈥檚 only witness, the subcommittee has also requested documents from other education groups about advice they gave to the CDC. They include the the and the , among others.

Midway through the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, told Wenstrup, 鈥淚’ve been to some weird hearings in this Congress, Mr. Chairman, but this one might be the weirdest, because it’s convened in order to accuse a federal agency of the crime of consorting with American citizens.鈥�

The AFT expected a contentious hearing: In preparation, it hired veteran Washington, D.C., attorney Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department inspector general, who has already complained of 鈥渟capegoating built on false allegations that appear to be the basis for this Subcommittee鈥檚 鈥榠nvestigation.鈥� 鈥�

For the hearing, the AFT also released a lengthy letter from Bromwich, who last week told Wenstrup and ranking member Rep. Raul Ruiz of California that the union鈥檚 role in CDC school closure policies 鈥渉as been exaggerated and falsified to support pre-conceived conclusions鈥� about closure strategy.

Actually, he said, the AFT鈥檚 role was 鈥渆xtremely limited,鈥� amounting to a few sentences in a 38-page document. He noted that the union鈥檚 February 2021 proposal of a 鈥渢rigger鈥� threshold of positive COVID cases that would signal schools to close was actually rejected by the CDC.

Asked during the hearing if she had any regrets about the AFT鈥檚 work during the pandemic, Weingarten said, 鈥淚 regret the fear that was there. And part of the reason we wanted clear information was because we had a role in terms of overcoming fear.鈥�

She noted that proper ventilation and testing, for instance, turned out to be more important than social distancing. 鈥淭here were things that we really didn’t get right.鈥� 

While Republicans sharply criticized the union鈥檚 role in often-disastrous closures, one line of questioning, from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, drew a sharp rebuke from Democrats. Greene asked Weingarten, a lesbian, 鈥淎re you a mother?鈥�

Weingarten replied, 鈥淚 am a mother by marriage.鈥� In 2018, she , who came to the relationship with two daughters.

Greene said she questioned Weingarten鈥檚 recommendations to the CDC 鈥渁s not a medical doctor, not a biological mother, and really not a teacher either.鈥� She later added, 鈥淟et me tell you: I am a mother, and all three of my children were directly affected by the school closures, by your recommendations, which is something that you really can’t understand.鈥�

Democrats on the committee asked that Greene鈥檚 comments be stricken from the record 鈥� a request Wenstrup denied.

International that schools weren鈥檛 associated with accelerating community transmission of the disease during the pandemic. While infections affected schools, researchers found, most of the outbreaks were small, with fewer than 10 cases. And they couldn鈥檛 be definitively linked to in-school transmission.

Yet evidence from other nations suggests that the U.S. took a much more cautious approach to reopening. Andreas Schleicher of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in November 2020 that while schools in Europe were initially closed, “Research has shown that if you put social distancing protocols in place, school is actually quite a safe environment, certainly safer than having children running around outside school.”

Prolonged U.S. public school closures have long been a sore spot for educators and public health officials, who now admit that policies keeping students out of school for months could have been rethought.

In an with The New York Times, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the recently retired head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, 鈥淚 certainly think things could have been done differently 鈥� and better 鈥� Anybody who thinks that what we or anybody else did was perfect is not looking at reality.鈥�

The has been probing several school-related aspects of the pandemic. Last month, its into closures testimony from University of California-San Francisco epidemiologist , who said scientists had evidence before the epidemic that wearing masks was 鈥渓argely ineffective鈥� at preventing the spread of flu and similar viruses 鈥� and that CDC recommendations on distancing six feet apart were 鈥渁rbitrary鈥� and not based on science.

The pandemic accelerated a yearslong decline in the mental health of the nation鈥檚 children and teens. The number of young people experiencing sadness, hopelessness and thoughts of suicide has increased dramatically, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In response, states, cities and school districts are using COVID-19 relief dollars and their own money to launch programs to help students and teachers recognize the symptoms of mental illness and suicide risk and build support services to help students who are struggling.

Flush with federal pandemic relief grants, some schools also are creating programs they hope will foster emotional well-being for students and increase their sense of connection to their schools and communities, said Sharon Hoover, co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health.

Typically, federal education money is allocated to states based on their school-age population. But 90% of the money , which typically have wide leeway to decide how to use it.

Some states and cities also are adding their own money to fund youth mental health projects.

This month, for example, New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams  a broad mental health agenda that includes a youth suicide prevention program.

In February, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper  that the state would spend $7.7 million to provide suicide prevention training for university and community college personnel, create a mental health hotline for students and develop resiliency training for faculty, staff and students.

In January, New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a $14 million mental health grant program that targets K-12 schools with the greatest need.

And Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Daniel McKee  a $7.2 million program to train K-12 school employees to detect mental illness and suicide risk, respond to it and connect students and families to community social services.

Last year, Illinois, Iowa and Maryland launched programs to provide mental health training for school personnel.

And Arizona, California and South Carolina raised Medicaid reimbursement rates to incentivize behavioral health providers to provide services in schools, according to a February  from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

February data from the CDC shows that 鈥渕ental health challenges, experiences of violence, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors鈥� rose sharply  among all teens, but particularly among girls.  

More than two-thirds of public schools reported an increase in the number of students seeking mental health services, according to  by the Institute of Education Sciences, the data analysis arm of the U.S. Department of Education. And only a little more than half of the schools said they felt their school could effectively provide the mental health services students needed.

Even before the pandemic, a fifth of children ages 3 to 17 had a mental, emotional, behavioral or developmental disorder, according to a  from the U.S. Surgeon General. Globally, symptoms of depression and anxiety among children and youth doubled during the pandemic, according to the report.

This year, data collected by nonprofit mental health advocates Mental Health America indicates that nearly  with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment.

To address the crisis, the Biden administration this month proposed a budget that includes $428 million in education and mental health grants states could use to help students who already are struggling with mental illness and to create programs aimed at improving the emotional well-being of all students. Congress would need to approve the money.

At the same time, K-12 schools are slated to receive $1 billion in grants over the next five years to stem rising mental illness and violence in schools, under a  Congress passed in the wake of the June 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

In addition to new funding, state and local officials have until Sept. 30 to decide how to use their share of the remaining $54.3 billion in education relief funds, part of pandemic aid Congress approved in 2020. And they have until Sept. 30, 2024, to decide how much of the remaining $122.8 billion in education grants under the  Act of 2021 to spend on mental health.

Mental health advocates have long rued the lack of federal and state funding to support school mental health programs. Federal relief dollars to combat the learning loss and emotional distress caused by the pandemic, they say, present an unprecedented opportunity for states to bolster school mental health resources that have been vastly underfunded for decades. 

鈥淭here never has been sufficient funding to meet the mental health needs of our communities, and certainly not our children,鈥� said Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a grassroots nonprofit organization that advocates for people affected by mental illness.

鈥淣ow that we have this confluence of factors affecting kids鈥� mental health 鈥� including the pandemic, social media and a wave of state legislation that鈥檚 harmful to LGBTQ youth 鈥� we don鈥檛 have a solid system to fall back on,鈥� she said.

To build and sustain such a system, Hoover said, states, schools and communities will need to better balance their investments in academics with their investments in mental health.

Ultimately, Hoover said, 鈥渢he hope is that we take a public health approach 鈥� like seatbelts in cars 鈥� to emotional well-being supports in schools for all students, not just those who are suffering the most. We need supports for everybody.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything COVID taught us, it鈥檚 that the mental health of our children and their ability to learn are inextricably linked.鈥�

This article originally appeared at .

Now, new national data unveil one factor that could be exacerbating the crisis: a record increase in sexual violence.

Nearly 1 in 5 teen girls experienced sexual violence in 2021, forced to kiss or touch someone in their life, according to the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention鈥檚 released Monday.

A startling 14%, more than 1 in 10, were forced to have sex against their will, according to the report which compiled responses from 17,000 young people surveyed in the fall of 2021. The violence is up 20% since 2017.听

The CDC conducts the survey every other year, though Monday鈥檚 report is the first to capture pandemic-era trends. And while there are bright spots 鈥� bullying and use of illicit drugs are down overall 鈥� the recent findings are grim.

In 2021, at least 18% of girls experienced some form of sexual violence 鈥� forced to touch or kiss someone in their life. And while the rate of girls forced to have sex in particular had remained pretty constant for the last 10 years, in the two year period from 2019 to 2021, it jumped from 11% to 14%.听

鈥淭his is truly alarming,鈥� said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC鈥檚 division of adolescent and school health. 鈥淔or every 10 teenage girls you know, at least one of them, and probably more, has been raped. This tragedy cannot continue.鈥�

Nearly 1 in 3 girls also seriously considered suicide. One quarter of girls and 37% of lesbian, gay or queer youth made suicide plans. Thirteen percent of girls attempted it, the highest numbers in a decade, roughly double the rate for boys.听

While increases in suicidal ideation can be seen across many demographics, Black and Native or Indigenous students remain significantly more likely to attempt and are the students most impacted by housing insecurity.

鈥淎merica’s teen girls are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma,鈥� said Debra Houry, chief medical officer for the CDC, during a press briefing Monday.听

鈥淭hese data are hard to hear and should result in action,鈥� Houry said. 鈥淎s a parent to a teenage girl, I am heartbroken.鈥�

Research confirms adolescents who are forced to kiss, touch or have sex with people against their will are symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. In children, this can manifest in a number of ways, including withdrawal from friends or social activities, difficulty sleeping, poor , self-harm, substance abuse and suicidal ideation.

Houry said while this report did not look at the connections between sexual violence and the increase in depression and suicidality, prior research has shown 鈥渟exual violence is associated with mental health issues, substance use and also long-term health consequences.鈥� 

Girls are also 5% more likely than boys to misuse prescription opioids and more likely to have tried illicit drugs like cocaine, inhalants, heroin, methamphetamines, hallucinogens, or ecstasy, according to the report 

Nearly half of all high schoolers are 鈥減ersistently sad or hopeless,鈥� the report found, symptoms used as a proxy to measure depression. Numbers are notably higher for girls, queer youth and students of color.听

The feelings, particularly when they are the result of sexual violence, hold the power to have lifelong impacts: 鈥測oung people who feel hopeless about their future are more likely to engage in behaviors that put them at risk for HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancy,鈥� the report states. 

Only about half of teens, according to the 2021 findings, used a condom the last time they had sex. And only 5% were screened for STIs within the last year.

Yet many of the challenges facing young people today, Houry added, are in fact 鈥減reventable.鈥�

can revamp health curricula to educate young people about sexual consent and managing emotions; encourage school-based clubs like Gay Straight Alliances; and increase mental health training for teachers, peers and staff. 

Healthy relationship and bystander training programs like Green Dot can reduce harm and stigma in talking about sexual or romantic violence, CDC officials said. 

The CDC and advocates also encouraged families to look for warning associated with suicide and regularly ask young people about their feelings or concerns. 

鈥淚 wish my family knew these resources and what to look for earlier,鈥� national PTA President Anna King tearfully said during the media briefing. King lost a niece to suicide nearly five years ago.听

鈥淭hese conversations will help parents learn how to help their child and figure out what’s going on emotionally, building their ability to cope with life’s stressors and show them their feelings matter,鈥� King said. 鈥淚t also helps them to understand that they’re not alone.鈥�

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Additional resources are available at . For LGBTQ mental health support, you can contact The Trevor Project鈥檚 toll-free support line at 866-488-7386.

Child vaccination rates dipped into dangerous territory during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools were shuttered, and most doctors were only seeing emergency patients.

But instead of recovering after schools reopened in 2021, those historically low rates worsened, according to new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts fear that the skepticism of science and distrust of government that flared up during the pandemic are contributing to the decrease.

According to today鈥檚 data, the percentage of U.S. children entering kindergarten with their required immunizations fell to 93% in the 2021-22 school year, 2 percentage points below recommended herd immunity levels of 95% and lower than vaccination rates , when many schools and doctor鈥檚 offices were closed.

鈥淲hile 1 percentage point might not seem concerning, that one percent represents tens of thousands of children who are inadequately protected from diseases we can easily prevent through immunization,鈥� said Dr. Michelle Fiscus, chief medical officer at the Association of Immunization Managers, a nonprofit group of state officials who direct vaccination efforts. 

鈥淭his national trend is alarming, especially as we see outbreaks of measles in Ohio among children who are too young to be vaccinated and those who are inadequately vaccinated. We need all hands on deck to get these children protected,鈥� Fiscus said.

Public health officials warn that unless child vaccination rates for measles, chicken pox, polio and other diseases are quickly brought back to pre-pandemic levels, outbreaks of preventable diseases 鈥� like the measles outbreaks in  and  in the fall and the polio case in  last summer 鈥� are likely to become commonplace.

While COVID-related disruptions in schools and the health care system may be the primary cause for this recent drop in immunization rates, they鈥檙e only part of the reason state-required vaccination rates are trending downward, public health experts say.

They say the politicization of public health and increasing distrust of government have skewed parents鈥� previously positive attitudes about vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, tetanus, diphtheria, polio and other childhood diseases that have been all but eradicated. 

鈥淚鈥檓 trembling in my anxiety about this,鈥� said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

鈥淥ur own success in immunizing children routinely, uniformly against a whole list of diseases that used to be common has resulted in the current generation of moms and dads not knowing much about these diseases, if anything,鈥� he said.

鈥淚f you don鈥檛 fear the disease and respect the vaccines,鈥� he added, 鈥測ou may not adhere to state laws requiring them.鈥�

In general, the public鈥檚 willingness to follow public health requirements has been waning since the COVID-19 pandemic began, said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers.

The political divisiveness that erupted over COVID quarantines, masking and vaccines, he said, may be spilling over into what has been a widely accepted public health policy of protecting children from infectious diseases.

The CDC  that vaccinating children born from 1994 to 2018 will prevent 472 million illnesses, nearly 30 million hospitalizations and more than a million deaths. The state-run vaccination programs are also projected to save $479 billion in health care and other direct costs.

In 2019, a single measles outbreak of 72 cases in Washington state cost $3.4 million, CDC researchers , with most of the costs incurred by local public health agencies.

State immunization rates vary widely. For the 2021-22 school year, Alaska, the District of Columbia, Wisconsin, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky and Ohio had the lowest rates. New York, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Delaware, California, Massachusetts and Nebraska had the highest rates.

Changing Mandates

All 50 states and the District of Columbia require children to be vaccinated for childhood diseases before entering kindergarten, whether at a public or private school. Every state allows medical exceptions, and most allow parents to seek an exemption for religious or philosophical reasons.

Public health officials argue that the best way for states to boost their child vaccination rates is to enact ironclad vaccine mandates with no exceptions other than for medical reasons, such as for children who are undergoing cancer therapy.

Mississippi and West Virginia, which have such strict vaccine mandates, have had among the highest vaccine rates in the nation for decades. 

California did away with its non-medical vaccine exemptions in 2015, followed by Maine and New York in 2019 and Connecticut in 2021. West Virginia鈥檚 vaccine mandate never included non-medical exemptions, and Mississippi鈥檚 law was stripped of non-medical exemptions in 1979 after the state Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional.

California repealed its non-medical exemptions in reaction to high-profile measles outbreaks in 2014 and 2015, including one that started at Disneyland. After the law took effect, measles, mumps and rubella coverage rose by 3.3%, which put California closer to the herd immunity vaccination threshold of 95% for measles.

With most state vaccine mandates in place by the 1980s, the CDC declared victory over measles in 2000.

But in recent years, the diagnosis numbers have crept upward: In 2014, 667 measles cases were reported to the CDC. In 2019, state health departments reported 1,274 measles cases.

Even so, childhood vaccination rates in the United States remained high relative to other developed countries, and public attitudes toward routine childhood vaccines were relatively positive.

But since the COVID-19 pandemic began, state vaccine requirements have met more opposition. In October, a poll conducted by the Harvard Opinion Research Program showed that support for vaccination requirements to enter school had slipped to 74%, compared with 84% in 2019.

A  published by the Kaiser Family Foundation in November showed that 28% of respondents said parents should be able to opt out of vaccinating their school-age children even if it results in health risks for others.

That鈥檚 up from only 16% who responded the same way in a 2019 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center. (The Pew Charitable Trusts funds the center and Stateline.)

In the past two years, dozens of bills have been proposed that would make it easier for parents to opt out of routine vaccinations for their school-age children, as well as COVID-19 shots, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks state legislation.

In 2021, Kentucky and Florida enacted laws allowing parents to refuse routine vaccinations and still enroll their children in school.

Enforcement and Access

In addition to tightening vaccination mandates, public health officials say some states need to better enforce their rules and increase education and community messaging, so parents better understand the importance of vaccinating their children.

Measles, for example, is far more contagious than COVID-19. It typically infects 9 out of 10 people an infected person encounters, and the contagion can linger in a room for at least two hours after an infected person leaves. 

Although most measles cases resolve within a week, it is a potentially life-threatening respiratory disease that often results in hospitalization. In , for example, 33 of the 82 children with measles last year were hospitalized.

Dr. Anne Zink, chief medical officer for Alaska鈥檚 Department of Health and president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said improving access to pediatricians, family doctors and other health professionals who can administer childhood vaccines is another way states can get more children vaccinated.

Pediatricians and family doctors typically provide immunization shots to children between 12 and 23 months. But for children who miss their vaccinations in their first two years and need to get caught up, some states set up local vaccine drives at schools and use mobile vaccination units to serve local communities.

Matt Guido, research coordinator for Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel at the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, said states should consider taking advantage of the infrastructure established for ramping up COVID-19 vaccinations and call on some of the same community leaders to help parents get their kids vaccinated before they start school next year. 

This story was originally published by , an initiative of .

鈥淧lease treat this as you would any illness,鈥� said a from Hendry County School District in Florida. 

The district鈥檚 rules specify that staff and students experiencing coronavirus symptoms should stay home, while those who are asymptomatic and fever-free for 24 hours may come to school with or without a face covering.

Across the country, over 95% of the 500 largest school systems had no mask requirement as of Aug. 22, according to an from Burbio, a data service that tracks school policy. Several, however, do still to wear face coverings for three to five days when they return to campus after finishing a five-day quarantine.

Those policies come after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in mid-August eased their K-12 COVID guidelines. Rather than recommending anyone exposed to the virus self-isolate, the CDC now calls for only individuals who test positive or experience symptoms to stay home, effectively doing away with the test-to-stay programs many schools used during the previous academic year. The guidelines still recommend universal masking where COVID levels are high, as they are in several regions of the country, including New York City.

Regardless, the nation鈥檚 largest district will return to school with face coverings optional after lifting its mandate last March. Los Angeles, the second largest school system, will do the same. New York City will also end its requirement that students and staff undergo for the virus. 

Breaking the trend, and are enforcing universal masking as students return students to classrooms. Philadelphia鈥檚 rule, however, will lift after the first 10 days of school.

Benjamin Linas, a professor of medicine at Boston University, advises schools not to put an outright ban on mask requirements, because the policies can be a helpful temporary tool for staving off outbreaks and preventing missed learning.

鈥淪ometimes schools have to close because they have so much COVID that kids aren’t coming [or] there鈥檚 not enough staff,鈥� he told 社区黑料. 鈥淲hen we’re talking about school mitigation and school masking, we’re talking about learning.鈥�

Indeed, an Albuquerque, New Mexico, charter school on Aug. 16 for a week when over 3% of students and staff tested positive for the virus. And Mannsville Schools, a tiny 95-student Oklahoma district, announced a week-long closure starting Aug. 14.

鈥淒ue to an increasingly high number of positive covid tests for both students and staff, we are forced to close for this week to allow time for everyone to get better and not continue to spread the virus,鈥� Mannsville Superintendent Brandi Price-Kelty. 鈥淲e will make up these days with virtual learning days after Labor Day.鈥�

Other areas have set a higher threshold at which school COVID positivity levels trigger policy changes: 10% in Kansas City means until levels drop, according to the district, and 20% in South Carolina ushers a brief pivot to remote learning, according to the .

鈥淭here might be a situation in which you put on masks for 10 days in order to break an in-class cluster and get back to school,鈥� said Linas. 鈥淚 think people could have more in-person learning and more educational opportunities if we acknowledge sometimes you have to put on a mask in response to an outbreak situation in your own building.鈥�

Thanks to vaccines, COVID hospitalizations and death rates are much lower than they were at the height of the pandemic. But because case rates continue to follow patterns of surges and troughs, infections will still be an issue classrooms must deal with for the foreseeable future, he said. 

鈥淭his disease is not yet a common cold, it still does major damage鈥� there鈥檚 still a lot of morbidity. [Masking in classrooms when cases spike] is the least invasive policy one could have other than just doing nothing. And I think it would be foolish to do nothing at this point.鈥�

As the number of monkeypox cases spread across Florida, more and more school districts will have to contend with how to approach the disease as public school students, teachers and staff start their first day of school this week.

So far, districts haven鈥檛 gotten much guidance from state health officials, leaving those sorts of questions unanswered for the time being.

Cody Strother, of the Escambia County school district in the Panhandle, told the Phoenix that they haven鈥檛 yet gotten any guidance from the Florida Department of Health, though monkeypox cases have risen to 聽As of Monday, the state health agency for the first time reported one monkeypox case in Escambia County.

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Without additional guidance for monkeypox, the Escambia school district will continue with COVID-related safety measures as its defense against monkeypox.

鈥淛ust a real emphasis on sanitation, making sure all our surfaces get cleaned and sanitized with regularity and making sure our facilities are as clean and as sanitary as possible,鈥� Strother told the Phoenix.

In northeast Flagler County, on the Atlantic coast, there鈥檚 one monkeypox case as of Monday.

Jason Wheeler, a communications staffer for the district, told the Phoenix that, 鈥渨e have no reason to really do anything right now,鈥� regarding additional safety measures for the school year.

Wheeler added that if the state Department of Health comes out with guidance regarding monkeypox spread, the district will 鈥渁bide by those recommendations.鈥�

But Escambia and Flagler are on the lower end of case numbers in Florida 鈥� nothing compared to the more than 300 cases each in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. In total, Florida is nearing 1,000 cases in the state, up almost tenfold

And, it鈥檚 not clear if the state health department is interested in sharing any guidance about monkeypox regarding Florida鈥檚 school districts.

Jeremy Redfern, the state health department鈥檚 spokesperson,:

鈥淲e are now getting requests for monkeypox guidance from school boards,鈥� said Redfern.

鈥淕uys鈥� c鈥檓on.鈥�

He continues: 鈥溙共曰逄爄sn鈥檛 going to let you put masks on kids for a disease that is almost exclusively spreading among adult men through sexual contact.鈥�

That is an unusual response, because new Florida laws prohibit school districts from implementing mask mandates on students following COVID-related 鈥減arental rights鈥� decisions on masks.

The Florida Phoenix reached out to Redfern several times for clarification on his tweet and have yet to receive a response.

On Aug. 4, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the monkeypox virus a public health emergency, according to the Florida Phoenix. In July, the World Health Organization declared it a public health emergency of international concern.

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that a majority of monkeypox cases have been among men who have sex with men, but emphasizes that 鈥渁ny one can get monkeypox.鈥� Monkeypox can spread through 鈥渃lose, personal, often skin-to-skin contact,鈥� as well as touching objects such as clothing, bedding, and surfaces that have been used by someone with monkeypox, the CDC says.

Education Week, a national education news site, for school leaders and notes that 鈥渢here鈥檚 no cause for panic among school and district leaders.鈥�

鈥淲hile there are likely to be additional pediatric cases as the country works to contain the outbreak, school leaders should be informed, not alarmed, said Wafaa El-Sadr, professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University,鈥� Education Week reports.

Currently, it seems unlikely that monkeypox will spread widely in schools, Education Week reports, though it notes that some children are at a higher risk of severe illness if they are infected. That includes children 8-years-old and under and children with compromised immune systems or certain skin conditions.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .

The Federal Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized both Moderna鈥檚 and Pfizer-BioNTech鈥檚 vaccines for children as young as 6 months old 鈥� meaning COVID shots for the last age group of Americans without access may be just days away.

The vaccines now await sign-off from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the final step before children under 5 can begin rolling up their sleeves. The White House expects providers to begin administering doses on Tuesday, immediately after the federal Juneteenth holiday.

On Wednesday, an FDA panel of experts 鈥� made up of pediatricians, infectious disease experts and vaccine researchers 鈥� voted 21-0 in favor of both vaccine options.

鈥淭here are so many parents who are absolutely desperate to get this vaccine, and I think we owe it to them to give them the choice,鈥� said committee member Jay Portnoy, a professor of pediatrics at Children鈥檚 Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

Philip Chan, medical director for the Rhode Island Department of Health, called the panel’s unanimous vote a 鈥渕ajor milestone in COVID prevention.鈥� His state is ready to distribute the shots as soon as they receive the all clear, he said.

鈥淲e鈥檝e pre-ordered thousands of [doses], and we expect them to ship within 24 or 48 hours after the FDA issues the EUA鈥� (emergency use authorization), he told 社区黑料 Wednesday. With EUA now granted, the COVID shots should soon be on their way.

Parents who are eager to finally vaccinate their young children took advantage of the public comment period at the FDA鈥檚 Wednesday committee meeting to urge advisors to recommend authorization. Michael Baker, the father of a 1 and a 3 year old, described the tough choices he has had to make to protect his children from the virus. He shared a slide of all the events they have missed out on during the pandemic, including weddings, holidays and funerals.

鈥淎ll I am asking is now that 鈥� I have the choice to vaccinate my children, [that] I have the choice to do it in the most timely fashion possible,鈥� he said to the committee.

Parents like Baker awaiting vaccines for their little ones have been on a months-long rollercoaster that has repeatedly raised their hopes only to later send them crashing down. In late February, Pfizer-BioNTech first submitted a request asking the FDA to grant emergency authorization for a two-dose regimen of their vaccine for children 6 months to 4 years old, only to then withdraw the application just five days later. Then in April, when Moderna was on the verge of submitting its EUA application for the age group, the FDA postponed the committee review process until Pfizer鈥檚 shots were also ready.

Just 29% of children 5 to 11 years old and 59% of youth 12 to 17 years old have so far received two vaccine doses, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

However, Katelyn Jetelina, creator of Your Local Epidemiologist, wrote in her hyper-popular newsletter that parents of young kids should still take COVID seriously and vaccinate their children.

鈥淭he rate of severe disease is lower compared to adults, but this is an inherently flawed comparison because kids don鈥檛 die as often as adults. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 442 children aged 0-4 years old have died from COVID-19. If we compare to other vaccine preventable diseases among children, deaths due to COVID19 are highest. We cannot become numb to these deaths,鈥� she explained.

COVID cases across the U.S. are finally leveling off after a springtime surge fueled by an Omicron subvariant spurred bumps in pediatric infections and hospitalizations through the final weeks of the school year.

You can view the FDA鈥檚 and watch the full recording of its June 15 vaccine advisory committee鈥檚 virtual meeting:

In a press conference Thursday, White House COVID Response Coordinator Ashish Jha outlined the possible timeline for when young children, the last group in the U.S. still ineligible for immunizations, could begin rolling up their sleeves.

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Here are the key dates:

鈥擩une 1, Pfizer-BioNTech formally asked the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency use authorization to their doses for kids under 5. Moderna submitted its application in late April for kids 6 months to 6 years old.

鈥擩une 3, states became able to order vaccine doses for kids under 5. A total of 10 million are currently available, the White House said.

鈥擩une 14 & 15, the FDA鈥檚 vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet to review the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech doses. Should the committee vote in favor of authorization, the White House expects the FDA to greenlight the vaccines in the days immediately after the meeting.

鈥擩une 18-20, if the FDA has authorized shots, doses will begin to arrive at doctors鈥� offices. The White House can begin sending vaccine shipments immediately following FDA authorization.

鈥擩une 21, after the long holiday weekend, if the previous steps proceed without setbacks, kids under 5 may begin receiving vaccine doses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must also recommend the shots, but the agency typically follows the guidance of the FDA.

The White House has asked states to first provide vaccines to sites that can handle large volumes of supply, such as children鈥檚 hospitals. But as soon as Atlanta-based pediatrician Jennifer Shu receives the green light from local officials, she will order doses for her office.

鈥淧arents have been asking me about vaccine availability for kids under 5 for several months. I plan to order them as soon as I get the notice from our health department,鈥� she wrote in a message to 社区黑料.

The White House also stressed that providers should offer vaccinations outside traditional working hours.

鈥淲e want to make this as easy as possible for working parents and their families,鈥� said Jha.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a question from 社区黑料 asking how many doses have been ordered so far and by which states.

With COVID case counts once again high amid a second Omicron surge, the updated vaccine timeline for young kids appeared as a light at the end of the tunnel to many pandemic-weary parents.

鈥淚 teared up in the car today thinking about being able to get my kid vaccinated,鈥� Marisol LeBr贸n, professor at UC Santa Cruz, wrote on Twitter.

Parents of young children awaiting vaccines for little ones have been on a months-long roller coaster that has repeatedly raised their hopes only to later send them crashing down. In late February, Pfizer-BioNTech first submitted a request asking the FDA to grant emergency authorization for a two-dose regimen of their vaccine for children 6 months to 4 years old, only to then withdraw the application just five days later.

Then in April, when Moderna was on the verge of submitting its EUA application for the age group, Politico reported that the FDA might postpone the review process until Pfizer鈥檚 shots were also ready, a reveal that angered many parents and spurred a congressional letter asking the agency to explain the reported delay. The FDA鈥檚 current timeline appears to confirm those speculations of a simultaneous review.

The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech doses have several differences. Moderna鈥檚 shots are a two-dose regimen spaced four weeks apart, while the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires three doses each spaced three weeks apart. The Pfizer-BioNTech shots were 80% effective in clinical trials, while Moderna鈥檚 were 51% protective in toddlers 6 months to 2 years old and 37% protective in youngsters 3 to 5 years old.

Researchers believe both vaccines offer a strong defense against severe illness and hospitalization in the age group.

In a clip from the Thursday press conference that has circulated widely on Twitter, White House Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre cut off Jha before he could respond to a reporter’s question asking whether 鈥渁ll schools will and must be open this coming fall.鈥�

Any speculations that the Biden administration would advise school closures next year, however, starkly contrast with the administration鈥檚 prior actions and messaging. Biden has continually underscored his commitment to keeping schools open and oversaw a push to 99% of schools offering in-person learning in his first months in office. Although early in the pandemic an in-person learning divide existed between red and blue states, virtually all school systems reopened their classrooms for the 2021-22 school year, regardless of their partisan leaning.

But with toddler vaccines possibly rolling out in just a few weeks, many older children have not yet been immunized. Just 29% of children 5 to 11 years old and 59% of youth 12 to 17 years old had received two vaccine doses as of June 1, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The rates that have remained nearly stagnant for months.

The winter鈥檚 massive Omicron surge demonstrated the importance of youth vaccination, said Shu, the Atlanta pediatrician. Children under 5 were hospitalized with the virus at five times the rate they were during the Delta surge, a study from the CDC recently found. And in February, the agency鈥檚 data revealed that 3 in 4 kids under 18 had been infected by the virus.

鈥淭he kids who are ending up in the hospital are more likely not to be vaccinated,鈥� the doctor told 社区黑料 in May.

It鈥檚 a major boost in efficacy compared to data from Moderna, which announced in March that its two-dose regimen is 51% protective in toddlers 6 months to 2 years old and 37% protective in youngsters 3 to 6 years old.听

Researchers believe both vaccines offer a strong defense against severe illness and hospitalization in the age group.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday its vaccine advisory committee will meet June 15 to review Moderna鈥檚 and Pfizer-BioNTech鈥檚 emergency use authorization requests for kids ages 6 months to 5 years old and 6 months to 4 years old, respectively. Pfizer and BioNTech have not yet submitted an EUA request, but plan to do so by the end of the week, BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said in a .

The agency鈥檚 advisory committee will make a recommendation on whether to approve the shots at the end of the meeting, which the FDA typically follows. Many experts hope the agency will greenlight shots soon after the mid-June meeting.

鈥淚 have some optimism that this will go well at [the] FDA advisory meeting and we might begin immunizing under 5 beginning next month,鈥� Peter Hotez, co-director of Texas Children’s Hospital’s Center for Vaccine Development, wrote on .

Children under 5 years old remain the last Americans without access to COVID vaccines, and parents are eager to protect their children, especially as cases once again rise, said Atlanta-based pediatrician Jennifer Shu.听

On Monday, as the Pfizer news was announced, multiple parents of young children asked whether they could get their kids on a waiting list for the forthcoming vaccines.

鈥淚 assure them that we will make availability for everyone who wants [the shots],鈥� said Shu, explaining that her practice has received ample pediatric vaccine supply every time they have placed an order. 鈥淚 don’t think that access is going to be an issue.鈥�

The news from Pfizer and BioNTech comes on the heels of a months-long saga that has repeatedly raised the hopes of parents anxious to vaccinate their toddlers against COVID only to later send them crashing down. In late February, Pfizer-BioNTech first submitted a request asking the FDA to grant emergency authorization for a two-dose regimen of their vaccine for children 6 months to 4 years old, only to then withdraw the application just five days later.听

Then in April, when Moderna was on the verge of submitting its EUA application for the age group, that the FDA might postpone the review process until Pfizer鈥檚 shots were also ready, a reveal that angered many parents and spurred a congressional letter asking the agency to explain the reported delay. The announcement of the June 15 committee meeting appears to confirm those speculations of a simultaneous review.

The trial results released Monday clarified what experts have hinted at since February 鈥斅爐hat Pfizer鈥檚 two-dose regimen never offered the full intended protectiveness for young children.

鈥淚t was always a three-dose vaccine,鈥� said Hotez.

The news comes as reported U.S. coronavirus cases are up 53% since two weeks ago and youth infections are also rising, though less steeply. With the increased prevalence of at-home testing, those numbers may fail to capture the full scope of new case totals, said Shu.

During the winter鈥檚 massive Omicron surge, children under 5 were hospitalized with the virus at five times the rate they were during the Delta surge, a from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found. And in February, the agency鈥檚 data revealed that kids under 18 had been infected by the virus.

Still, repeat infections remain a threat, and can happen of each other. Children who have not yet been vaccinated are more likely to get sick and, in turn, more likely to experience severe outcomes than immunized peers, said Shu.

鈥淭he kids who are ending up in the hospital are more likely not to be vaccinated,鈥� she told 社区黑料.

Just 28% of children 5 to 11 years old and 58% of youth 12 to 17 years old have received two vaccine doses, rates that have remained nearly stagnant for months.

Aside from recommending that kids roll up their sleeves as soon as they鈥檙e eligible, the pediatrician believes schools should consider reinstating universal face-covering rules while infections multiply. While a few schools and districts have made that jump, the vast majority continue to keep masks optional, though some have upped their language recommending masks.听

Shu, however, knows of some children who have chosen to mask up at school as they鈥檝e watched their peers get sick. It鈥檚 prom and graduation season, the pediatrician noted, and young people don鈥檛 want to miss out.

鈥淚f you miss some of these things, you can’t make them up,鈥� said Shu.

Nationwide, reported infections are up 57% since two weeks ago and 4 percent of counties, including large clusters in the Northeast, are categorized as high risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s . Another 14 percent are at the medium risk level.

Still, only are requiring students and staff to wear face coverings, according to the latest analysis from Burbio, a data service that has surveyed K-12 policies through the pandemic. 

An outlier, Pittsburgh Public Schools in Pennsylvania recently opted to less than two weeks after having made masks optional districtwide. And Portland, Maine on May 12 also , but clarified that it would not enforce the rule at end-of-year events like graduation and prom.

Much more common, school and health officials are announcing guidance that residents wear masks indoors as case counts rise, but have fallen short of issuing mandates. New York City leaders are residents to wear masks indoors, but the nation鈥檚 largest school district has made no changes to its face-covering policy thus far. The Cambridge, Massachusetts superintendent put forward a May 9, 鈥溾�嬧�媏ncouraging our entire school community to mask, particularly when we are indoors,鈥� but added that 鈥渨e are NOT reinstating a requirement.鈥�

鈥淲hile a small number of districts are reinstating mask mandates, what we are seeing more often is district superintendents more forcefully recommending use of masks while not requiring them,鈥� Burbio co-founder Dennis Roche told 社区黑料.

Mia Miron, 13, is weeks from graduating middle school in Pomona, California. Recently, she鈥檚 noticed far more students and staff catching the virus, she said. 

Her friend in science class got infected. And the school called her to the cafeteria last week to notify her of a possible exposure in history class, though she has since tested negative for the virus. Los Angeles County, where Pomona Unified School District is located, has seen a 48% increase in cases over the last two weeks.

鈥淭his shot up out of nowhere,鈥� she told 社区黑料.

Though the district does not require students or staff to wear face coverings, teachers in most classes now remind Miron and her peers that COVID is spreading and that they should mask up and frequently wash their hands, she said.

The eighth grader has worn a mask in school all year long and continues to now, but few of her classmates have heeded educators鈥� warnings, she said. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 kinda like 50-50鈥� in terms of who wears face coverings in the classroom, she said.

Ameera Eshtewi, a Portland, Oregon high schooler who attends the Oregon Islamic Academy, a private school, said her school never dropped its universal face-covering requirement. She鈥檚 glad: mask-wearing gives her a 鈥渓evel of safety and security,鈥� she told 社区黑料.

Across the country, reported pediatric COVID infection counts have steadily increased over the past month, but remain far below levels from the worst of the first Omicron surge. For the seven-day period ending May 12, the country reported about 94,000 youth cases compared to over 1.1 million over the same time span in late January, according to data from the .

On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Pfizer-BioNTech鈥檚 booster shots for children aged 5 to 11. The agency has hearings to review Moderna鈥檚 vaccines for children 5 and younger.

Meanwhile, as the U.S. surpasses the grim milestone of 1 million lives claimed by COVID, just of youth aged 12 to 17 and 28% of children 5 to 11 have received two vaccine doses. The latest wave of infection includes many people who have been both fully immunized and boosted, leading to a belief that schools cannot realistically take a zero-COVID approach to virus mitigation.

Still, masking requirements should return on a short-term basis in school districts where virus risk is high, believes Benjamin Linas, professor of medicine at Boston University. He serves on an advisory panel for his children鈥檚 Brookline, Massachusetts school system and advocated for a temporary reimplementation of universal masking, though on May 11 officials instead opted to 鈥�,鈥� but not require, face coverings.

鈥淯nless we’re willing to say, 鈥楾hat’s it, we’re 100% done, there’s absolutely nothing we can do to mitigate [COVID spread],鈥� 鈥� and I’m not ready to say that 鈥� 鈥� then we鈥檙e at a point where we should be using masks,鈥� he told 社区黑料.

The doctor, who was among the first in his liberal suburb to advocate for off-ramps from mask mandates earlier in the spring, added that 鈥渙nce-in-a-lifetime, big events, where interacting with humans and walking around and seeing each other smiling is mission critical to what the event is,鈥� such as prom, should not enforce face-covering rules.

His stance on classroom masking comes less out of concern for curbing community spread, he explained, and more for a desire to keep students from missing school. Face coverings reduce virus transmission in K-12 settings, multiple academic studies have demonstrated, which can prevent young people from quarantine. 

鈥淭he reason we want people to wear masks is to protect our own education, now鈥� while cases are up, said Linas.

In early March, a pandemic celebrity best known for advocating that schools should move toward a pre-COVID normal wielded her weapon of choice, arguing in The Atlantic that lifting mask mandates for all but the youngest students is 鈥�.鈥�

Emily Oster laid out what she, and many others, understood to be the situation at hand in her opening paragraph: 鈥淎lthough the CDC recently moved to relax COVID guidelines, it continues to recommend universal indoor masking in early-childhood-education programs for those ages 2 and older.鈥澛�

The CDC鈥檚 coronavirus for child care providers, last updated Jan. 28, lists a number of 鈥渒ey takeaways,鈥� including that the agency 鈥渞ecommends universal indoor masking in [early childhood education] programs for those ages 2 years and older, regardless of vaccination status.鈥�

But in a surprising twist, about a week later, the Brown University economist posted an update on her Instagram story.

鈥淎fter my piece in @theatlantic last week, the CDC emailed me to let me know they DO NOT recommend masking for toddlers in areas with low or moderate transmission. Toddlers鈥� masking recommended to align with everyone else,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淭hey are struggling to get the message out so maybe this will help!鈥�

鈥淚 realize that seems a little crazy, but I am telling you that is the email I received from a senior person at the CDC.鈥�

The federal agency has a yellow banner at the top of its that says the CDC鈥檚 latest recommendations 鈥渁lign precautions for educational settings with those for other community settings.鈥�

鈥淭hat banner 鈥� is intended to replace all of the information that is below it in the bullets that say that kids should still be masking,鈥� Oster said in an Instagram video.

In late February, the CDC made major news when it replaced its previous recommendation that all schools require universal masking, stipulating instead that classrooms could now go mask-optional when community COVID rates were low or moderate, the current virus level across most of the country.

But without a vaccine available for those younger than 5, Oster and many others understood the guidance to apply only to K-12 schools, not early child care and pre-K programs. The CDC is 鈥渆asing its recommendations for wearing masks in indoor K-12 settings,鈥� the Los Angeles Times .

But in fact, the guidance was meant to apply to all educational levels, including those under 5.

In a Thursday email to 社区黑料, the CDC confirmed that 鈥渞ecommendations for masks in K-12 schools and early care and education (ECE) programs are consistent with recommendations for other community settings.鈥� 

鈥淐hildren ages 2-4 have a lower risk of severe disease from COVID-19 and parents of children in ECE programs as well as ECE staff can make appropriate choices about mask wearing in school settings based on local requirements and their personal levels of risk,鈥� wrote spokesperson Jade Fulce.

She did not explain why it has taken the agency several weeks to update its website, but said they would make the information available 鈥渁s soon as possible.鈥�

To New York City parent Daniela Jampel, whose 4-year-old daughter has continued masking while her older sister goes to school face exposed, the delay is unacceptable.

鈥淚t鈥檚 ridiculous,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he CDC is having trouble updating its website so they reach out to Emily Oster?鈥�

鈥淭heir website on this issue should not be left to interpretation. It should be very clear,鈥� said Jampel, an early advocate for amid remote learning and now an outspoken critic of the city鈥檚 decision to leave masking in place for preschoolers.

Oster agreed that the unconventional communication method underscores the widespread confusion on the issue, but clarified that the CDC did not contact her asking her to spread the word about their policy. Rather, they were correcting what they said was inaccurate information in her Atlantic piece.

鈥淭hey weren’t like, 鈥極h, by the way, it would be great if you could share with people this information,鈥欌�� Oster told 社区黑料. 鈥淭hey just said, 鈥楨verybody should already know this.鈥� But I think it’s pretty clear looking at 鈥� how people responded that they have not managed to make that clear.鈥�

Several parents, mostly in blue states like New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois, responded to Oster鈥檚 update saying that their child care provider was still requiring masks, said the professor.

鈥淚 showed this (post) to my provider,鈥� many parents wrote, and in response were told, 鈥淲ell, if the website still says that masks are required, that鈥檚 not our interpretation of what that banner is.鈥�

鈥淭here is a fair amount of people looking to this guidance and trying to interpret it and the way that it is currently stated is extremely difficult to interpret clearly,鈥� said Oster.

The confusion extended to The Atlantic itself, which did not immediately update Oster鈥檚 original column to reflect the CDC鈥檚 clarified guidance after Oster received the agency鈥檚 email. In a follow-up interview with 社区黑料, Oster said she corresponded with her editor, but because the CDC had made no official announcement on how to interpret the vague website, the outlet decided not to alter its story at that time.

鈥淸The fact-checker] read the banner at the top, but then everything below it still said there should be masking,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t went under the radar.鈥�

However, after this story first published and 社区黑料 requested comment from The Atlantic, Oster鈥檚 piece was updated Thursday night to reflect the disconnect in the CDC鈥檚 guidance between the banner and the information below it.

Many early childhood education providers nationwide continue to require universal masking for 2- to 4-year olds.

Head Start, a federal school readiness program serving over 800,000 children from low-income families each year, 2-year-olds and up to wear face masks indoors, although in a Jan. 1 ruling, a U.S. district judge on the program鈥檚 rule in 24 states, mostly Republican. In the remaining 26 states, even those that long ago lifted their school mask mandates, participating toddlers are still required to cover up.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams cited hospitalization data when announcing earlier this month that the country’s largest school district was lifting its K-12 mask mandate but keeping the rule for 2- to 4-year-olds.

鈥淲hen you look at those under 5, they were more likely to be hospitalized,鈥� Adams . 鈥淧eople wanted to say, 鈥楲et’s lift it across the board,鈥� but that’s not what the science was showing us.鈥�

Masking in early child care settings is associated with a in program closures due to virus outbreaks, according to a recent study from doctors at Yale University. But the data were collected during the early months of the pandemic before vaccines were available to staff.

And while federal data show that hospitalizations for children under 5 did spike during the Omicron surge, an outsized share of that uptick was driven by newborns not yet 6 months old, who the masking guidance does not apply to anyway.

Meanwhile, COVID cases in Europe are , fueled by a more transmissible Omicron subvariant. Even as infections continue to , many experts warn that the increases across the pond could foreshadow a coming wave in America.

Jampel, despite frustration with the CDC鈥檚 haphazard rollout of its guidance for toddlers, doubts whether more clarity would impact the rules affecting her family. 

鈥淣ew York City schools have done many things that go far beyond what the CDC recommends,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m not convinced that it鈥檚 the CDC holding us up, and I’m not convinced that a CDC change will mean that our political leaders will take notice and change their policies.鈥�

Neither the Department of Education nor the Department of Health immediately responded to requests for comment.

Steven Barnett, co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, said the two key questions on the issue are 鈥淲hat are the health benefits from masking young children?鈥� and 鈥淲hat are the developmental consequences?鈥�

鈥淭he problem with trying to be an expert on this issue is that there is very limited science on which to base conclusions,鈥� he told 社区黑料 in an email. 鈥淲ith respect to the health benefits, the known risks to young children from infection are quite small but this is a novel virus with unknown long-term risks.鈥�

鈥淎ll this leads me to think,鈥� he continued, 鈥渢hat masks for young children may be prudent when there is a high rate of community transmission鈥� 鈥� a conclusion that lands him in alignment with the now clarified CDC guidance.

But with all the CDC鈥檚 communication glitches along the way, Oster worries it will impact the public鈥檚 faith in the agency, which has been shaken several times throughout the two-year pandemic.

鈥淭his erodes trust,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f people are trying to trust the CDC, they’re trying to listen to them, when the messaging is confused in this way, or incomplete in this way, it makes people less likely to pay attention to the CDC.鈥� 

Like all other public school parents, Plowden faced a choice: On the day New York City鈥檚 school mask mandate was lifted, should his son keep his on or take it off in the classroom. 

鈥淚鈥檓 going to send him with it, but he can take it off if he wants to,鈥� said the father, explaining that the family has taken COVID seriously, but feels that K-12 masking can鈥檛 go on forever. His son contracted the virus and recovered, which gives Plowden a level of confidence that Zayin will be OK, even if he chooses to bare his face.

鈥淚 just want him to have a normal school experience again,鈥� said the Brooklyn dad.

On Friday, in an address held in Times Square, Mayor Eric Adams declared that the nation鈥檚 largest district would officially be doing away with its face-covering requirement and also rolling back proof-of-vaccination requirements in restaurants, gyms and movie theaters. 

It鈥檚 a move that comes on the heels of a tremendous shift away from school mask mandates nationwide in recent weeks, with only of the largest 500 districts now requiring that students cover up compared to 60 percent a month ago, according to data from Burbio, which has tracked school policy through the pandemic. 

In late February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its guidance, now allowing schools to go mask-optional in areas where transmission is moderate or low.

New York City鈥檚 quick pivot 鈥� done with the support of the teachers union 鈥� breaks from the pattern of other top districts, which have been slower to adjust. Chicago Public Schools will wait another week before going mask-optional March 14, the district Monday, in a move the Chicago Teachers Union said violates a safety agreement requiring masking through the end of the school year. A similar agreement to appears to still be in effect in Los Angeles Unified School District, even as the state plans to lift its mandate March 11.

The change in policy is dividing New Yorkers, many of whom believe it鈥檚 too early to roll back pandemic precautions while others are embracing the change.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anyone is comfortable with it,鈥� said Ebonee Smith, a special education teacher at Restoration Academy in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She entered school on Monday clad with her mask. 鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 been a gradual release.鈥�

Justin Spiro, a social worker in a Queens high school, chose to drop his mask on Monday. 鈥淚 feel very protected by my three shots,鈥� he said, adding that at times, masks have made his job more difficult.

鈥淐ounseling behind a mask is definitely challenging,鈥� he told 社区黑料. 鈥淲e rely, subconsciously, on so many facial expressions for showing empathy and showing understanding and expressing emotion.鈥�

Similarly, Park Slope dad Dan Kurfist, whose daughter is in kindergarten, said he was 鈥渢hrilled鈥� when the city lifted its mandate. 

As for his daughter, she ran into school screaming, 鈥淣o mask today,鈥� when he dropped her off Monday morning, Kurfist said, estimating that about three-quarters of students were unmasked.

Face coverings will still be required for NYC kids younger than 5 in pre-K and child care, the mayor stipulated on Friday. That age group is not yet eligible for vaccination and has been overrepresented among all pediatric hospitalizations, according to a from the New York State Department of Health. 

About 75 people  gathered in City Hall Park Monday demanding that the mask rules be lifted for 2- to 4-year-olds, holding signs that read 鈥�#UnmaskOurToddlers.鈥� One parent, attorney Michael Chessa, said he planned to sue and to seek an injunction lifting the ongoing mask mandate for preschoolers.

鈥淚鈥檓 done with the mayor forcing my kid to wear a mask while he spends all day in preschool chewing on it anyway,鈥� said Renana Teplitsky.

鈥淢ask mandates have been lifted everywhere else, so it doesn鈥檛 make sense to punish kids 2 to 4,鈥� said Liz Bernstein. 鈥淲e鈥檙e super pro-mask,鈥� the mother-of-two added, but because her 12-year-old child will now be exposed at school, she doesn鈥檛 see the use of continuing to mask her toddler. 鈥淜ids have siblings,鈥� she pointed out.

Meanwhile, a group rallying under the hashtag #MaskingForAFriend gathered last week, imploring Adams pre-emptively to reconsider his plan to scrap the school mandate.

To Lupe Hernandez, a Tribeca parent of two who is immunocompromised, the mask-optional policy makes her fear for her family鈥檚 safety. She herself had COVID twice and is still suffering from long-term side effects, she said. She鈥檚 concerned that NYC schools serving low-income students of color than whiter, more affluent schools. Citywide, just over half of students are fully vaccinated.

鈥淚 think this is way too early鈥� to drop masks, she told 社区黑料. If it weren鈥檛 for the fact that her 8-year-old has a paraeducator who works with him at school, she would have considered keeping him home on Monday to avoid sitting next to unmasked classmates. The Department of Education reported that attendance was Monday.

鈥淢asks haven鈥檛 prevented my child from developing,鈥� she added, saying her son learned to read while attending school wearing one.

Adams on Friday acknowledged the wide-ranging viewpoints on how to navigate this current stage of the pandemic, joking that the city has 鈥�8.8 million people, 30 million opinions.鈥�

鈥淚t’s reasonable to consider removing masks at this time,鈥� said researcher John Giardina, who emphasized that vaccination continues to be an effective way to stave off severe coronavirus outcomes. 

In mid-February, the Harvard University Ph.D. student was the lead author on a peer-reviewed study spelling out exactly how many cases unmasking in school might trigger depending on factors like vaccine coverage and local transmission.

鈥淭here is no one-size-fits-all policy for a city as big as New York City,鈥� he cautioned, emphasizing that individual school leaders may want to look at the vaccination levels of their own community to determine the best public health decision.

The breakdown of parent opinions tends to fall along racial lines, Farah Despeignes has noticed. Despeignes is a Bronx mother of two and president of the Community Education Council in District 8. Herself a former educator, she decided to homeschool her children in September rather than send them back to the classroom amid a pandemic. In her experience, Black and Hispanic families, who were more likely to have lost loved ones to the virus, seem to be more cautious in their approach to school COVID mitigation measures.

鈥淚 understand that whiter populations may see it more as a question of freedom. But I can tell you, here, it’s not a question of freedom. It’s a question of safety,鈥� she told 社区黑料. 鈥淎 lot of these parents and children live in multi-generational homes. They have comorbidities that can be fatal.鈥�

Still, many families fall somewhere in the middle.

On Monday morning, Sonia Maynard dropped off her grandchildren 鈥� all masked 鈥� at P.S. 093 in Brooklyn. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e waiting to see how everything goes,鈥� she told 社区黑料.

Some of her grandchildren鈥檚 classmates, Maynard knows, might not be covering up, and that doesn鈥檛 bother her. After some days or weeks, it鈥檚 possible her grandchildren may join them 鈥� 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get back to some kind of normalcy,鈥� she said 鈥� but not today.

鈥淥ur schools have been some of the safest places,鈥� said Adams, citing a COVID positivity rate this week of 0.18 percent in schools. 鈥淲e are lifting the indoors mask requirement for DOE schools.鈥�

“We want to see the faces of our children. We want to see their smiles,” he said.

The seismic move in the country鈥檚 largest school district was in accordance with plans the mayor signaled on Sunday, days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted their universal masking guidance for schools in areas with low to moderate transmission.听

After a tumultuous two years in which the teachers union and City Hall were often at odds over COVID protocols, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew endorsed the change in a brief emailed statement.

鈥淥ur doctors agree with the city’s medical experts that this is the right time to safely move from a mask mandate to an optional mask system,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is the responsible, thoughtful way to make our next transition.鈥�

Face-covering requirements will stay in place for those younger than 5 in pre-kindergarten and child care settings, Adams said, noting that age group is not yet eligible for vaccination. That distinction will set up a scenario in some city schools with pre-K programs that certain grade levels can go mask-free while others cannot.

In February, Pfizer and BioNTech postponed their request that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorize their COVID shots for toddlers, pushing the timeline back several months for that age group.

Over three-quarters of all New York City residents have received at least two vaccine doses, including 87 percent of adult residents, according to . Studies show that three doses of the COVID vaccine are at preventing hospitalization, even against the Delta and Omicron variants.

However, student vaccination rates vary widely from school to school, from just under 10 percent coverage in some places to above 90 percent at others, reveal. Schools in wealthier areas tended to have higher rates of immunization, leading some to worry that lifting the face-covering mandate will lead to a disproportionate toll on underserved families who have suffered outsized death tolls through the pandemic.

On Wednesday, parents took to the steps of Tweed Courthouse to protest the city鈥檚 plans to drop universal masking in an event organized by the parent advocacy group . They rallied under the hashtag #MaskingForAFriend to emphasize the need to protect the most vulnerable, including the immunocompromised and the elderly, they said.

鈥淚 know there鈥檚 some who state that they still want their children to wear their masks,鈥� acknowledged Adams. 鈥淵ou can.鈥�

He himself will continue masking in crowded venues from time to time, he said, and wants to ensure that no child is ostracized for their decision to cover up.听

Monday will also mark the end of proof-of-vaccination requirements for gyms, restaurants and movie theaters, though individual businesses may keep their rules in place if they so choose, the mayor said.

Meanwhile, his administration has indicated that they are interested in creating a virtual learning option for families who prefer to keep their children out of the classroom, but has provided no concrete details on a timeline, frustrating parents who have advocated for that possibility since . In January, at the height of the Omicron surge, Adams told officials that the process could take as long as six months.

The mayor closed his Friday address on a rejoiceful note.

鈥淭his is a celebratory moment,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been waiting for this day for so long. And it鈥檚 here.鈥�

Watch the full address:

Alberto Carvalho, who took over as superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District just two weeks ago, wasted little time in setting ambitious goals for his new administration. In a unveiled last week, he said he would focus on academic recovery and consider shifting funds from the district鈥檚 expensive COVID testing program to pay for it. 

He also wants to reduce class sizes, expand early learning and streamline hiring to address staff shortages. The agenda, which he discussed during a virtual welcome reception Thursday, came after an already jam-packed two weeks in which he attended his first school board meeting, met with each one of the district鈥檚 union presidents and taught two biology classes. 

The nation is watching whether the success Carvalho had as the 14-year superintendent of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools will follow him to the nation鈥檚 second-largest school district. In December, the school board to hire the award-winning leader, with board Vice President Nick Melvoin calling him 鈥渢he right person to lead L.A. Unified students out of this pandemic into a better future.鈥�

On Friday, he spoke to 社区黑料 about his plan to live up to those high expectations. 鈥淚’m very optimistic about the possibility in Los Angeles,鈥� he told 社区黑料鈥檚 Linda Jacobson. 鈥淚f I wasn鈥檛, I wouldn’t be here. I chose L.A. as much as L.A. chose me. I have never failed. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve erred. I’ve tripped. I’ve fallen, but failure is not in my DNA.鈥� 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

社区黑料: Talk a little bit about declining enrollment, which fell by in Los Angeles this year. What鈥檚 on your agenda for getting families to come back and attracting new families?

Alberto Carvalho: That’s not unique to L.A., nor New York or Chicago 鈥� or most urban centers across America. Affordability has been significantly diminished and wages have not kept pace. That has forced families to move, and when the family moves, they don’t leave the kid behind. There has been significant internal mobility that has shifted membership in and out at the school system. 

Then there is this third arena that really concerns me 鈥� families and students that have completely disappeared. Calls have been met with disconnected phone lines and knocks at the door. The neighbor does not know. We are beginning to learn anecdotally that some of these families may have had a fragile immigration status. They made decisions as a result of prior immigration protocols and obviously have not returned. It’s a complex issue. Other parents have pulled students from the public school system and moved to their second home because they could afford a second home and pay for private tuition.

Now the solution: In L.A., if you want choice, you have magnets and you have charters. Then there are district-affiliated charters and independent schools. Whoever decided to restrict choice on the basis of those parameters? There are single-gender schools, career academies. Choice does not need to conform to magnet or charter. Where are the programs in L.A. where we see long waiting lists of parents? Why aren’t we expanding more of those programs to where the demand is?

You鈥檙e talking about more of those programs in neighborhood schools?

Correct. Have we done an analysis about the amount of time a child is on the bus to get to that one program that really motivates him or her 鈥� that great engineering program, fine arts, performing arts, cybersecurity, robotics, STEAM, STEM, dual language, dual enrollment, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge, whatever?

I can fill an entire wall with a repertoire of options for parents. Why aren’t we offering all of that? L.A. Unified is a much bigger district than Miami. L.A. Unified has about 300 magnet programs. Miami-Dade offers 1,100 choice options. We have work to do. If we don’t do that, we will continue to bleed out students because parents are living in a reality where they have an entitlement to choice. If we don’t do that, it is tantamount to burying our head in the sand as a tsunami of choice washes over us. I choose to ride the top of it. I think it’s better for kids, it鈥檚 better for communities, and that is one of the key elements of reenergizing interest in our public school system.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance on masking, saying schools can drop mandates when COVID-19 risk is medium or low. Any reaction?

We learned that the state of California and the CDC are relaxing protocols with one significant exception 鈥� . But conditions have improved significantly in our community as a function of good weather, but also because of the insistence on vaccination, on masking, on testing. We are waiting now on additional data from the county but also guidance from Sacramento specific to school protocols. One of the elements that we are carefully analyzing right now is the possibility of relaxing testing protocols particularly at the secondary level. It鈥檚 a very costly proposition. The frequency and cadence is churning through financial resources.

Do we need to continue to invest at this level? We have an opportunity to reinvest those dollars in educational programs, in tutorial, acceleration and social-emotional programs.

Is that something you think the union would oppose?

We will need to have an open dialogue with the bargaining units. I will not surprise our collective bargaining representatives. But if we are a science-driven district, we follow the science not only when things are getting bad; we also need to follow the science as conditions improve.

Many parents say that they want , especially small-group and one-on-one tutoring. Why was that not spelled out in your 100-day plan?

It was. When I speak about an augmentation of educational opportunities, before and afterschool programming, that is inclusive of tutorial services. When I speak about the concept of year-round schooling opportunities, I’m not singularly speaking about schools being open. I’m speaking about before- and afterschool tutorial services that can be provided by the school system, but also by private entities, not-for-profit entities. When I talk about maximizing these educational opportunities, that’s exactly what I’m describing. It was not ignored. It is actually very much part of the strategy moving forward.

I think when parents hear terms like expanded learning opportunities and afterschool, they just think of large groups. They don鈥檛 think that means the high-dosage models that have received a lot of attention.

It鈥檚 both and. 

I was struck by how David Turner [manager of ] challenged you on the issue of school police. He said he was disappointed to see the under your tenure in Miami. What is your position on that, considering the Los Angeles district took a last year on redirecting funding from school police officers to improving school climate and the achievement of Black students?

I have inherited a policy position that has reduced the budget and implemented a different methodology of protective actions around schools. Rather than the presence of a school resource officer on campus, it’s more of a mobile unit that provides someone support for safe passage to and from school and is able to rapidly respond to emergencies. That is a decision made by the board, supported by a significant sector of this community. 

Now that we’ve moved in that direction, have we stood up the appropriate personnel, with the appropriate training in schools from a prevention perspective? Have we identified restorative justice practices, been effective at avoiding, preventing and or resolving and managing a crisis that would have otherwise been addressed by a police officer? We鈥檙e not there yet.

My concern is that [police] have been removed, and the element that will in a more systemic and more preventive way benefit our kids has not fully been fleshed out. That, too, is part of the 100-day plan.

Alicia Montgomery, executive director of the , watched your presentation and reviewed the plan. She mentioned to me that the school system鈥檚 six local districts and all the smaller communities of schools each have their own goals and objectives. She said she has been struck in the past by the 鈥渟heer resistance to consistency across the district.鈥� You talked a lot about alignment in your plan. Where would you like to see a more universal approach and where should there be room for autonomy?

I’m a huge believer in the concept of earned autonomy, implementing a model that strikes the appropriate balance, that sweet spot. The board’s equity-driven agenda should be ubiquitous. That requires clear communication, continuous monitoring of student performance, attendance data, critical incidents of absenteeism and a universal guarantee of the appropriate resources. That cannot be left singularly in the hands of local leaders. That said, there is room on the other side of the balance for leadership that works best closer to the school. I do have some concerns where it’s working well versus where it’s not working well.

Can you give an example?

I would rather not. There are many different areas in Los Angeles where local leadership has navigated this balance fairly well. In other areas, it is not as clear to me that the coherence is where it needs to be. 

Your plan mentions creating a collective bargaining strategy, and I know some would like to see a lot more transparency in negotiations with the union. Should that be a more open process?

I’m a huge believer in transparency, so let’s begin there. There is no way that we’re going to maximize opportunities for students through the existing collaboration with labor partners. [We need to be] developing and executing a sound, reasonable strategy that’s based on compensation philosophies that support recruitment and retention of a highly qualified workforce. That’s huge for me. It’s needed for the school system right now. We’re having a difficult time recruiting teachers. Fifty percent of teachers across the country are leaving the profession before retirement. That is shocking and that’s the first time that has happened in the history of our country.

The typical negotiation process begins with management declaring that there is no money and labor providing a list of demands. Sometimes lost in that chasm is the answer to the simple question: What do the kids need and can we rally around a common set of goals? 

I’ve been here about a week now and I’ve had conversations with every single labor president, and I did that in advance of the 100-day plan because I don’t believe in surprises. This work is too complex, too difficult and too important, particularly as we continue to navigate the tail end of this pandemic. That’s going to be my approach to the labor negotiation process that we are rapidly going into.

The U.S. Department of Education recently that they are responsible for providing students with disabilities the services they did not receive during remote learning. Are you evaluating what the district is required to do and have a plan for providing those services?

During the pandemic, students with disabilities were among the most impacted, the most fragile communities of students, and have lost the most ground. We need to start from that perspective. By what means shall we accelerate and where have we fallen short in terms of providing the best educational environments? Where do we need to increase inclusion rates across the district? Where must we contemplate additional improvements for parents of students with disabilities who have maintained them in a virtual environment? Are there opportunities for us to speak with the parents and demonstrate that perhaps the option they selected is not adequately addressing the needs of their children?

This is an ongoing process with the federal government. I am aware of the issue and I’m currently engaged in discussions with federal entities regarding this topic. At the end of the day, this is a fragile community of students and I think we recognize two years into this pandemic some of the detrimental impacts that these students have suffered.

How often will you teach? Do you want to run your own school like you did in Miami?

I have now taught two high school biology classes since I’ve arrived. That’s as much fun as anybody in my position can ask for. I need to remain connected to what happens in schools, at a leadership level, in a supportive role. But if I am to remain real, I need to have access to students through meaningful instructional opportunities. That’s what sustains me. This can be a difficult role, and I don’t know how to do it from the comfort of the ivory tower, or the safety of backstage. I need to be on the edge of that stage, feeling the warmth and the social interaction from students and schools. I’m going to be very active and engaged with school principals, with teachers and in the classroom. It’s actually a topic of negotiation and conversation with my own team, how we make that feasible on a very regular basis.

Finally, when the news hit that you were coming to Los Angeles, I spoke to a long-time parent advocate who said even the most talented leaders have been driven away from this job. I know you said you’re here for the long haul, but what is your reaction to that statement?

Why would anybody want to do this? Because we cannot abandon two elements of America 鈥� the importance of public education and the viability of cities and urban education, where the needs are heightened. Are there easier ways of impacting children? You can go be a superintendent of a very affluent, small district where you don’t have that diversity, you don’t have kids who are children of immigrants. 

I think we need to paint a picture of hope. I’m very optimistic about the possibility in Los Angeles. If I wasn鈥檛, I wouldn’t be here. I chose L.A. as much as L.A. chose me. I have never failed. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve erred. I’ve tripped. I’ve fallen, but failure is not in my DNA. When we decide to accept failure for ourselves, we are condemning kids to the same fate, and that’s not me.